Pauridia alticola Snijman & Kocyan (2013: 24)

Snijman, Deirdre A., 2014, A taxonomic revision of the genus Pauridia (Hypoxidaceae) in southern Africa, Phytotaxa 182 (1), pp. 1-114 : 104-106

28. Pauridia alticola Snijman & Kocyan (2013: 24) . Figs. 3K & 42

Bas.:— Forbesia occidentalis Nel (1914b: 289) ≡ Saniella occidentalis (Nel) B.L. Burtt (2000: 69) . Type (lectotype designated by Snijman & Kocyan 2013: 24):— SOUTH AFRICA. [Northern Cape], Hantam Geb[ied] [QDS: 3119BD], 1869, Meyer s.n. (B! No. 100089229 [image])

Plants 3–15 cm tall, sometimes clumped. Corm somewhat depressed-ovoid, 7–19 mm diam., covered with hard, brown, fibrous tunics; fibres unbranched proximally, firmly attached to rim of basal disc, reticulate distally, often extended into slightly outspread tips up to 10(–25) mm long; roots emerging from proximal half of corm. Cataphylls absent at flowering. Leaves 3–11, sheathing at base up to 4 cm, spreading to recurved, linear, 10–115(–120) × 1–7 mm, tapering evenly upwards, canaliculate, shiny green, firm-textured, margin often with minute, widely spaced, recurved teeth. Inflorescences up to 4 in flower at a time, 1-flowered, clustered amongst leaves; scape hidden by leaf sheaths, up to 10 × 1 mm, laterally compressed, whitish; bract 1, linear, inserted at ovary base, ca. 10–24 × 0.5–1.2 mm, whitish, thin-textured. Flower sessile, partly subterranean, more or less rotate, white with yellow centre, backed with pink to maroon distally on outer tepals, sometimes scented; perigone tube arising from a slender, elongated, ovary beak, bowl-shaped, 3.0–5.5 × 3.0– 3.5 mm; tepals 6, oblong-lanceolate, 10–18(–30) mmlong, outer 3.5–10.0 mm wide, minutely mucronate, inner 3.0–8.0 mm wide. Stamens 6, suberect, subequal, yellow; filaments inserted near perigone tube base, 3.0– 3.5 mm long, usually shorter than anthers; anthers linear, latrorse, (2.5–)3.0–5.0(–7.0) × 0.7 mm, basal lobes up to 0.5 mm long; pollen yellow. Ovary subterranean, narrowly ovoid, compressed ventrally, ca. 8 × 2.5 mm, 3-locular, distal beak 18–70 × 1 mm; style 2.5–4.0 mm long; stigma branches erect to spreading, linear-oblong, 2.5–5.0(–11.0) × 0.5–0.7 mm, ca. equalling or exceeding stamens, yellow, densely papillose. Capsule shortly exserted above ground, narrowly ovoid, ca. 9 × 3 mm, beaked, walls thin, disintegrating irregularly. Seeds somewhat globose, 0.93 × 0.82 mm; testa brownish black, densely covered with pliable, blunt, elongated trichomes. Flowering period: June–September.

Distribution and habitat:— Pauridia alticola has a disjunct distribution range, restricted to the highest parts of north-south trending Cape Fold Mountains in Western Cape and the parallel trending inland Great Escarpment in Northern Cape ( Fig. 43 ). The most northerly populations are found on the Hantamsberg, near Calvinia. In addition, scattered populations are known along the Roggeveld Escarpment, as well as on high peaks of the Cederberg and Kouebokkeveld in the southwest. On the Hantamsberg and Roggeveld the plants are restricted to seasonally inundated summit plateaus in doleritic soils, whereas in the Cederberg they occupy shale bands. Records indicate that the plants once occupied clay-loamy soils of the high-lying valleys in the Kouebokkeveld, but most of these habitats have been replaced by dams and orchards. According to the categories of threat as applied to plants in South Africa, P. alticola is Red-Listed as Rare ( Raimondo et al. 2009).

Diagnostic features:— Pauridia alticola is distinguished by a solitary-flowered inflorescence held close to the ground within a tuft of leaves. Specialized characters contributing to this compact habit are the shortened scape and sessile flower in which the subterranean ovary tapers into a long beak that raises the perigone clear of the ground. The exposed rotate perigone has a short, yellow, bowl-shaped tube and six, outspread white tepals, those of the outer whorl attractively backed with pink.

P. alticola is distinguished from the closely related P. verna by larger, heavily fibrous corms, often slightly larger flowers, the style which is shorter than the stigma branches, and the dense covering of elongated trichomes on the seeds.

History:—The partly subterranean flower accounts for this species having first been assigned to Forbesia Eckl. ex Nel (1914b: 287) , known more recently as Empodium ( Hilliard & Burtt 1973) . Subsequently the species was transferred to Saniella ( Burtt 2000) , a genus of just two species. In doing so, Burtt nevertheless conceded that the separation of Saniella from Spiloxene and Pauridia may not be justified. Confirmation of this has since come from the molecular based phylogenetic analysis of Kocyan et al. (2011) which resolved that Saniella is nested within an expanded Pauridia .

Discussion:— Pauridia alticola , an endemic of the Greater Cape Floristic Region, is geographically widely disjunct from its sister species, P. verna , from the Drakensberg in Eastern Cape, Lesotho and KwaZulu-Natal, which form part of the Great Escarpment in the northeast. This link between closely related species on the Great Escarpment in the southwest and in the northeast is not entirely surprising given the pronounced environmental similarities between these high-lying parts of southern Africa, most notably regular snowfalls and equally rich, heavy soils. Other species with comparable disjunct ranges are Isolepis angelica Burtt (1986: 362) (Cyperaceae) , Zaluzianskya glareosa Hilliard & Burtt (1983: 30) (Scrophulariaceae) , Brachypodium bolusii Stapf (1900: 737) (Poaceae) and several Asteraceae , namely Bolandia pedunculosa ( De Candolle 1838: 305) Cron (2006: 226) , Cineraria mollis E.Mey. ex De Candolle (1838: 306) , Eriocephalus eximius De Candolle (1838: 147) , Euryops empetrifolius De Candolle (1838: 446) , Helichrysum trilineatum De Candolle (1838: 192) and Pentzia tortuosa ( De Candolle 1838: 133) Fenzl ex Harvey (1894: 174) . Jointly these species are of special interest since, by suggesting that the Afromontane flora was once more extensively spread along southern Africa’s Great Escarpment, they provide insight into past climates.

Additional specimens examined:— SOUTH AFRICA. Northern Cape: Hantamsberg plateau (QDS: 3119 BD), 7 September 1995, Goldblatt & Manning 10300 ( NBG!) ; top of Hantam Mountain (QDS: 3119 BD), 4 September 1926, Marloth 12793 ( PRE!) ; Hantamsberg , main plateau Nof Calvinia (QDS: 3119 BD), 3 September 1986, Oliver 8873 ( NBG!) ; summit of Hantamsberg (QDS: 3119 BD), 5 September 2006, Snijman 2959 ( NBG!) ; Hantamsberg , summit plateau (QDS: 3119 BD), 18 August 1975, Thompson 2345 ( K!, NBG!, PRE!) ; Roggeveld Escarpment Wof Middelpos, top of Perdekloof and near Blomfontein (QDS: 3119 DD), 3 August 1998, Goldblatt & Manning 10947 ( NBG!) ; 65 km SE of Calvinia on Blomfontein road to Middelpos (QDS: 3120 CC) , 25 July 1981, Goldblatt 6069 (NBG!); Bloomfontein [Blomfontein], Eof Middelpos (QDS: 3120 CC) , 22 August 1975, Thompson 2544 ( K!, MO!, NBG!, PRE!); Sutherland District , edge of Roggeveld plateau, below small dam, Farm Uitkyk 67 (QDS: 3220 AD) , 16 September 2008, Clark & O’Connor 405 ( NBG!) ; Sutherland District , Voelfontein Farm (QDS: 3220 AD) , 5 September 1968, Hall 201 ( NBG!) ; Klipfontein, SW of Sutherland, Kanariesfontein area (QDS: 3220 AD) , 1 September 1973, Thompson 1784 ( NBG!) ; Buffelskop, Farm Uitkyk, NW of Sutherland (QDS: 3220 AD) , 3 September 1973, Thompson 1806 ( NBG!, PRE!). Western Cape : Cedarberg Forest Reserve, Sneeuberg (QDS: 3219 CA) , 2 September 1963, Taylor 5109 ( NBG!, PRE!); Leeuwrivier (QDS: 3219 CC) , 9 September 1945, Compton 17433 ( NBG!) ; Ondertuin, Ceres (QDS: 3219 CC) , 14 August 1970, Hanekom 1434 ( NBG!, PRE!); WitzenbergVlakte (QDS: 3319 AA) , 3 June 1971, Hardich 9 ( NBG!) ; WitzenbergVlakte, Ceres (QDS: 3319 AB) , 24 August 1966, Barker 10456 ( NBG!) ; 38 km Nof Ceres towards Op die Berg (QDS: 3319 AB) , 25 July 1995, Horstman s.n. ( NBG!) ; Agter Witzenberg flats, Witzenberg (QDS: 3319 AB) , 3 September 1966, Thompson 201 ( NBG!) ; flats NW of Prince Alfreds Hamlet (QDS: 3319 AD) , 27 July 1974, Oliver 4978 ( BOL!, E!, K!, MO!, NBG!, PRE!). Inexact locality: Ceres District , clay slopes between De Keur and Algeria, N Cold Bokkeveld , 28 July 1974, Goldblatt 2228 ( NBG!) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Flower diversity in Pauridia. A, P. trifurcillata; B, P. umbraticola; C, P. pusilla; D, P. longituba; E, P. linearis; F, P. gracilipes subsp. speciosa; G, P. curculigoides; H, P. monophylla; I, P.capensis; J, P. canaliculata; K, P. alticola. Photographs by J.C. Paterson-Jones.

FIGURE 42. Pauridia alticola. A, whole plant; B, flower in longitudinal section; C, stamen in lateral views; D, style and stigma branches; E, ovary in transverse section; F, seed. Scale bar A, B = 20 mm. Scale bar C, D = 6 mm; E = 3 mm; F = 0.7 mm. Drawn by Tracey Nowell [A–E from Thompson 2345 (NBG!); F from Burtt (2000: Fig. 2C)].

FIGURE 43 Distribution map for Pauridiaalticola (dots) from Northern and Western Cape, South Africa and P. verna (squares) from Lesotho and KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, South Africa.