Aptenia × vascosilvae (A. cordifolia × A. haeckeliana) (Aizoaceae), the new nothospecies from which the horticulturally popular cultivar Aptenia ‘ Red Apple’ was derived Author Smith, Gideon F. 0000-0002-5417-9208 smithgideon1@gmail.com Author Laguna, Emilio 0000-0002-9674-2767 Department of Botany, Nelson Mandela University, P. O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031 South Africa. & Servicio de Vida Silvestre - CIEF (Centro para la Investigación y Experimentación Forestal) / Generalitat Valenciana, Avda. Comarques del País Valencià, 114, 46930 Quart de Poblet, València, Spain. laguna_emi@gva.es Author Verloove, Filip 0000-0001-7595-9302 Meise Botanic Garden, Nieuwelaan 38, B- 1860 Meise, Belgium. filip.verloove@plantentuinmeise.be Author Ferrer-Gallego, P. Pablo 0000-0003-4144-2422 Department of Botany, Nelson Mandela University, P. O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031 South Africa. & Servicio de Vida Silvestre - CIEF (Centro para la Investigación y Experimentación Forestal) / Generalitat Valenciana, Avda. Comarques del País Valencià, 114, 46930 Quart de Poblet, València, Spain. & Department of Botany, Nelson Mandela University, P. O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031 South Africa. flora.cief@gva.es text Phytotaxa 2020 2020-05-04 441 2 221 224 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5360.3.8 journal article 309878 10.11646/phytotaxa.441.2.10 141e9fe6-7836-482e-9df2-f1691d874b0c 1179-3163 13872595 Aptenia × vascosilvae Gideon F.Sm., E.Laguna, F.Verloove & P.P.Ferrer , nothosp. nov. [ A. cordifolia (L.f.) Schwantes × A. haeckeliana (A.Berger) Bittrich ex Gerbaulet ]. Type :— SPAIN . Valencia : El Saler , próximo La Kasba , 30SYJ3159, 2 m a.s.l., 10 February 2020 , Laguna s.n. ( holotype VAL ! , isotype ABH ! 1 ) . Diagnosis :— Aptenia × vascosilvae is a long- and weak-stemmed, soil-hugging creeper that remains prostrate or will scramble into surrounding plants. The stems are thin and brittle and break rather easily. The leaves of A . × vascosilvae are usually basally cuneate as in A. haeckeliana , not cordate as in A. cordifolia , and a light to mid-green colour. The flowers of A . × vascosilvae are bright strawberry red and not bright pinkish purple as in A. cordifolia , nor yellowish as in A. haeckeliana ( Fig. 1 ). 1 Herbaria codes follow Thiers (2020 , continuously updated). FIGURE 1. A–B. Habit of Aptenia × vascosilvae ( B : a population of A . × vascosilvae naturalised on Tabarca Island, Alicante province, Spain). C. A. cordifolia . D. A. haeckeliana . E. Flowers of A. cordifolia (purple flower) and A. haeckeliana (yellowish flower). F. Leaves of A. cordifolia (basally cordate) and A. haeckeliana (basally cuneate) (photos by E. Laguna). Description :—Perennial, prostrate, freely branching, leaf succulent. Roots fibrous. Stems and branches to 100 cm long, creeping, rooting at nodes, four-angled to slightly cylindrical, light green when young, aging light greyish brown; internodes 1–5 cm long. Leaves ± 25 × 20 mm , light to mid-green, sometimes creamy- to white-variegated, flat, soft-fleshy, opposite sometimes becoming alternate, broadly to somewhat ovate; blade surface shimmering-shiny as a result of the presence of minute bladder cells; base cuneate, more rarely flattened, sometimes asymmetrical, not cordate; petiole ± 10 mm long. Flowers 1.5–2.0 cm in diameter, daisy-like in appearance, usually solitary, pedicels short; sepals ± free, 2–5 mm long; ‘ petals ’ bright strawberry red; ovary inferior. Fruit 4-celled capsules to 15 mm in diameter, usually smaller. Chromosome number :—unknown. Etymology :—The epithet vascosilvae honours Vasco Manuel Almeida da Silva ( 2 July 1978 , Évora , Portugal-) who studied at the Universidade de Évora , and is currently reading for a PhD degree at the Centre for Applied Ecology Prof. Baeta Neves, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa , Lisbon , Portugal . He is based in Cascais west of Lisbon , from where he provides scientific and technical consulting services, including floristic surveys, habitat assessments, and vegetation monitoring and management plans. Vasco has a longstanding interest in the indigenous and exotic floras of Portugal , including in succulent plants. He has published nomenclatural novelties under ‘Vasco Silva’. Phenology :—Main flowering time is February‒August, whereas fruiting time is July‒October (northern hemisphere). In South Africa Aptenia × vascosilvae has been observed to sporadically flower, often profusely, throughout the year, but usually with a peak in spring and early summer. Specimens examined ( paratypes ) :— Aptenia × vascosilvae :— SOUTH AFRICA . Gauteng province . 2528 ( Pretoria ): ex hort. domestic gardens , (–CB), as Aptenia ‘Red Apple’, 10 March 2019 (both specimens), Smith & Figueiredo 71 & 72 ( PRU ). SPAIN . Castellón , Orpesa , bc. de Bellver , 31TBE5239, 18 December 2004 , Herrero-Borgoñón s.n. ( VAL190843 ) ; Valencia , Sot de Chera , fuente del Pocillo , 30SXJ7987, 320 m , 09 May 2004 , Torres Gómez s.n. ( VAL217650 ) ; Valencia , Chelva , hacia La Playeta , 30SXK7001, 420 m , 01 November 2006 , Torres Gómez s.n. ( VAL217796 ) ; Valencia , Godelleta , Camino de Buñol , 30SXJ9966, 260 m , 05 November 2013 , Campestre s.n. ( VAL220027 ) . Notes :—Some of the leaves on a specimen collected by Villaescusa & Tirado vary from lanceolate to sublanceolate, whereas other ones are cordate or even subhastate, as is commonly found in Aptenia cordifolia . In addition, in terms of shape, size, and consistency, the sepals of this specimen more closely resemble those as found in A. cordifolia , and not those of A . × vascosilvae . Finally, this specimen was collected on 20 October 1990 , whereas A . × vascosilvae was for the first time observed as a cultivated plant that escaped into natural vegetation in Spain by the end of the 1990s, some 10 years later, therefore. Specimen excluded :— Aptenia cordifolia :—Castellón, Alcalà de Xivert, Platja Romana, 31TBE 65, 2 m , 20 October 1990 , Villaescusa & Tirado s.n . (VAL-26320).