Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia (A.Meeuse) Holstein, 2015

Holstein, Norbert, 2015, Monograph of Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae), PhytoKeys 54, pp. 1-166 : 118-119

23b. Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia (A.Meeuse) Holstein stat. nov.

Coccinia variifolia A.Meeuse, Bothalia 8: 100. 1962.

Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia Type: South Africa. [Limpopo]: Waterberg, Vaalwater, about 2.25 km from Vaalwater on road to Hermanusdoorns, male, fl, 6 Jan 1959, A.D.J. Meeuse & R.G. Strey 10413 (Holotype: PRE [2 sheets: PRE0188239-1 and PRE0188239-2, digital image: JPS], isotypes: BOL, L, SRGH).

Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia Type: South Africa. Ibid., A.D.J. Meeuse & R.G. Strey 10413bis (Paratype: PRE!).

Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia Type: South Africa. Limpopo: Palala river, M.G. Breyer[-Brandwijk] TRV25226 (Paratype:?).

Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia Type: South Africa. Limpopo: Rietspruit near Nylstroom [Modimolle], G.P.F. van Dam TRV23372 (Paratype: PRE!).

Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia Type: South Africa. Limpopo: Nabomspruit, Mosdene, E.E. Galpin s.n. (Paratype:?).

Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia Type: South Africa. Limpopo: 11 km from Warmbaths [Bela Bela] on Nylstroom road, R. Story 1525 (Paratype:?).

Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia Type: South Africa. Limpopo: Warmbaths, c. 3600 ft [1100 m], grassland/bush veld, H. Bolus 11893 (Paratype: BR!).

Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia Type: South Africa. Ibid.?, R. Leendertz TRV7579 (Paratype:?).

Coccinia sessilifolia var. variifolia Type: South Africa. [Limpopo]: Waterberg, 5.5 mls [8.85 km] NNE of Warmbaths, c. 1220 m, sour bushveld, J.P.H. Acocks 13903 (Paratype: S! [S08-12475]).

Description.

Perennial climber. Stems up to 1.2 m, likely also longer, glabrous. Petiole 0.7-1.6 cm, glabrous. Leaves 5.2-6 × 6-7.5 cm, deeply to shallowly 5-lobate, lobes outwards lobulate. Leaf margin remotely dentate, apex obtuse with final tooth. Upper leaf surface glabrous, with clear to whitish pustules. Lower leaf surface glabrous, with glands at base between nerves. Probracts up to 2 mm. Tendrils simple. Male flowers in racemes, accompanied by a solitary flower. Common peduncle 1-1.4 cm, pedicel in racemes 3-6 mm, each glabrous. Bracts up to 1.5 mm, narrowly ovate. Pedicel of solitary flowers 0.9-2 cm, glabrous. Perianth tube glabrous. Calyx lobes 2.5-4 mm, subulate to narrowly triangulate, erect. Corolla c. 2 cm, pale buff, lobes not measured. Filament column, anther head, and pollen sacs not seen. Female flowers solitary or clustered in reduced 2-flowered racemes. Common peduncle 1 mm, pedicel in racemes 0.9-1 mm, pedicel of solitary flower not seen, each glabrous. Hypanthium most likely glabrous and perianth as in male flowers. Ovary glabrous. Style and stigma not seen. Fruit and seeds not seen.

Phenology.

Flowering time: January-March, November, December. Likely as in Coccinia sessilifolia var. sessilifolia .

Distribution.

Fig. 40. Only known from Limpopo Province in South Africa. Elevation 800-1200 m. On sandstone, well-drained stony sand. Low closed woodland.

Remarks.

The new status of Coccinia variifolia was chosen due to the minor differences to Coccinia sessilifolia s.str. Subsessile leaves spontaneously occur in Coccinia sessilifolia (H. Bolus 364, F.A. Rogers 19262) and young individuals usually (always?) have petiolate leaves (N. Holstein 131, Fig. 4b). However, these collections of mature plants with distinctly petiolate leaves have only been observed in Limpopo Province in South Africa. Sessile Coccinia sessilifolia leaves can be quite variable, profoundly to deeply lobate, sometimes also lobulate. Compared to the rather uniform Coccinia quinqueloba ( Meeuse 1962), the leaves thus appear to be extraordinarily variable. Meeuse’s Coccinia variifolia shares the sublaminal glands (cp. Fig. 7b) and the calyx lobes of Coccinia sessilifolia , and it is geographically nested within this species (hence no climatic differentiation). Acocks (J.P.H. Acocks 13903) also reports a "stark glaucous" appearance, just as in Coccinia sessilifolia . As petiolate leaves also occur in young Coccinia sessilifolia plants, and subsessile leaves also occur in mature plants, it is more likely that the distinctly petiolate Coccinia sessilifolia individuals represent a local fixation of this character. As Coccinia sessilifolia var. sessilifolia is derived from petiolate plants, this variety might even represent a remnant population of these.

Specimens examined.

(in total: 8) South Africa. Limpopo: Waterberg Distr., F.A. Rogers 24932 (Z [Z-000073427]), N. Rooyen 1667 (PRE), R.H. Westfall 2136 (PRE).