Pauridia monticola subsp. nubigena, 2014

Snijman, Deirdre A., 2014, A taxonomic revision of the genus Pauridia (Hypoxidaceae) in southern Africa, Phytotaxa 182 (1), pp. 1-114 : 84-85

b. subsp. nubigena Snijman , subsp. nov.

New subspecies separated from subsp. monticola by longer tepals, 10–17 mm versus 6–10 mm, wider outer tepals, 4.5–5.0 mm versus 2.5–4.0 mm and by flowers frequently white with a yellow centre, even when dry.

Type: — SOUTH AFRICA. Northern Cape: Nieuwoudtville plateau, on road to Cloudskraal [QDS: 3119 AC], 4 August 1994 , Goldblatt & Manning 9908 (holotype, NBG!) .

Plants 3–9.5 cm tall. Corm somewhat ovoid, 10–15 mm diam., covered with brown, fibrous tunics; fibres firmly attached to basal disc, pectinate proximally, reticulate distally, tips more or less extended into an untidy, sparse bristly neck. Leaves 2 or 3, not forming a sheathing neck, suberect, linear, 35–90 × 1.5 mm, compressed terete, sometimes appearing canaliculate when dry, wiry, margin rarely with a few scattered, red, recurved teeth. Inflorescences 2-flowered, shorter to as long as leaves; scape up to 30 × 1 mm; bracts 2, clasping pedicels up to narrowed apex, lanceolate, abruptly narrowed at apex, 13–18 × 1.5–3.0 mm, pale green, leathery, margin narrowly membranous proximally. Flowers bright yellow or white with a large, yellow centre, backed with green, occasionally edges of outer tepals reddened; pedicels erect to spreading, more or less deflexing when fruiting, 23–45 × 1.0– 1.3 mm; tepals narrowly elliptic, 10–17 mm long, outer 4.5–5.0 mm wide, inner 3.0– 3.5 mm wide. Stamens suberect, outer slightly shorter than inner, yellow; filaments shorter than anthers, outer 0.7–1.5 mm long, inner 1.2–2.0 mm long; anthers oblong, 2.5–3.5 × 0.5 mm. Ovary shortly obconical, 2.5–4.0 × 2.0– 2.5 mm; style 1.0– 1.5 mm long; stigma branches suberect, oblong, 2.0–3.5 × 0.5–0.6 mm, equalling stamens, yellow. Capsules curved, obconical, ca. 6 × 3 mm. Seeds unknown. Flowering period: June–August.

Distribution and habitat:— subsp. nubigena is restricted to the edge of the Bokkeveld Escarpment, a flat tableland west of Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape, at an elevation of approximately 820 m ( Fig. 36A ). Scattered populations occupy open sites, in shallow, seasonally moist sand overlying exposed sandstone pavement, amongst broken stands of Bokkeveld Sandstone Fynbos (Rebelo et al. 2006).

Diagnostic features:— subsp. nubigena is separated from subsp. monticola primarily by flower size, the tepals being consistently longer, 10–17 mm, compared with 6–10 mm long, and the outer tepals being broader, 4.5–5.0 mm versus 2.5–4.0 mm wide. The subspecies is easily confused with the similar looking P. affinis from the southwestern Cape lowlands which previously was more broadly circumscribed to include P. monticola sensu lato. The new subspecies differs from P. affinis by its more finely fibrous corm tunics, which are reticulate and untidily spreading distally, the predominantly 2-flowered inflorescence, and the shorter ovary, usually 2.5–4.0 mm versus 4–8 mm in P. affinis . Although the flowers are sometimes yellow, as is characteristic of both P. monticola subsp. monticola and P. affinis , they may also be white with a yellow centre—a feature that often remains evident even when dry. Compared with these other taxa the flowering period of subsp. nubigena is relatively early and brief, between mid-June to early August.

Etymology:—This subspecies was seemingly first collected by Capt. T.M. Salter in June 1938 at the summit of Vanrhyn’s Pass, west of Nieuwoudtville. The subspecific epithet, meaning ‘born of the clouds’, takes its name from Cloudskraal Farm on the Bokkeveld Escarpment and describes the sometimes cloud-enveloped habitat in which the subspecies grows.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— SOUTH AFRICA. Northern Cape: Bokkeveld Escarpment, Avontuur 641, 2 km NE of Kromvlei (QDS: 3119 AC), 6 August 2008, Helme 5550 ( NBG!) ; top of Vanrhyns Pass (QDS: 3119 AC), 29 July 1967, Marsh et al. 306 ( NBG!) ; Kaiserfontein, Bokkeveldberg Escarpment (QDS: 3119 AC), 2 July 1995, Rourke 2092 ( NBG!) ; summit of Van Rhyns Pass (QDS: 3119 AC), 14 June 1938, Salter 7335 ( BOL!) .

Figures

FIGURE 36. Distribution maps for A, Pauridia monticola subsp. monticola (dots) from Northern and Western Cape; P. monticola subsp. nubigena (triangle) from Northern Cape; B, P. affinis from Western Cape, South Africa.