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Published In: Bothalia 46(1-a2024): 3. 2016. (Bothalia) Name publication detail
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 1/17/2017)
Acceptance : Accepted
Taxon Profile     (Last Modified On 1/17/2017)
Description: Deciduous geophytes. Corm flat-based, bell-shaped, rooting from base, axillary in origin; tunics of compacted fibres, outer layers decaying into loose fibrous network or vertical strips. Foliage leaves few to several, linear to sword-shaped, falcate or ± terete, plane with visible main vein; lowermost often longest and inserted on stem near ground level, upper leaves progressively smaller. Stem aerial, compressed and angled to winged, usually branched, often repeatedly. Inflorescence either much branched, forming a ± a round or flat-topped false panicle, with sessile flowers, or a simple or branched spike; bracts green and ± soft-textured, often becoming dry distally, inner ± as long as outer, often forked near apex. Flowers usually zygomorphic, or radially symmetric, long-lived, often salver-shaped or rotate, when zygomorphic, lower tepals usually with contrasting darker or lighter markings, sometimes sweetly scented; perianth tube cylindric or funnel-shaped, short to extremely long; tepals subequal or unequal with dorsal largest. Stamens symmetrically disposed or unilateral and arcuate; filaments slender, free; anthers oblong-linear, dehiscence longitudinal. Ovary globose, sessile; style filiform, branches forked for 1312 their length, undivided or notched apically. Capsules cartilaginous, ± globose. Seeds ± globose, flattened at chalazal end, smooth or slightly wrinkled; surface cells usually domed or ± flat. Basic chromosome number uncertain, diploid numbers, 2n = 16, 12, 10, 8 (diploids); 2n = 14, 12, 10, 8, 6 (tetraploids).
Etymology: from the Greek solen (a pipe) compounded with Africa, for the tubular flowers of this African genus, the tube of which is elongate, hence pipe-like, in many species.
Revisionary account:
General Notes: Species 15; sub-Saharan Africa, from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Angola, one species also in Nigeria; 11 in southern Africa, mainly Botswana and Namibia.

The majority of species of Lapeirousia from tropical and eastern southern Africa were transferred to the genus Afrosolen (= Psilosiphon) after molecular phylogenetic study showed them to fall outside the main clade of Lapeirousia and sister to the two tropical genera Cyanixia and Savannosiphon. Afrosolen is recognised by the flat-based corms with tunics of compacted fibres, soft-textured to submembranous floral bracts, and often undivided style branches, although they are deeply divided in some species. The inflorescence is typically a flat- to round-topped false panicle but tends in some species to a spike. Chromosome numbers are unusually varied, ranging from 2n = 16 to 6 and including polyploidy and dysploidy. As in Lapeirousia, the monosulcate pollen grains have a 2-banded operculum.

Flowers of most species are zygomorphic with short to very long perianth tubes, up to 100–140 mm long in white-flowered Afrosolen schimperi. Two species, A. coeruleus and A. avasmontanus, have short-tubed, radially symmetric flowers but on the basis of chromosome number and other characters appear not to be immediately related, suggesting that the radially symmetric flower has evolved independently in the two species. Pollination includes hawk moths in species with white or pale pink flowers with an elongate tube, bees for short-tubed species, and possibly long-proboscid flies or butterflies in species with deeply pigmented flowers with a long tube, although to date no long-proboscid flies have been recorded in northern Namibia where some of these species occur.


 

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