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Sparaxis villosa (Burm. f.) Goldblatt Search in The Plant ListSearch in IPNISearch in Australian Plant Name IndexSearch in NYBG Virtual HerbariumSearch in Muséum national d'Histoire naturelleSearch in Type Specimen Register of the U.S. National HerbariumSearch in Virtual Herbaria AustriaSearch in JSTOR Plant ScienceSearch in SEINetSearch in African Plants Database at Geneva Botanical GardenAfrican Plants, Senckenberg Photo GallerySearch in Flora do Brasil 2020Search in Reflora - Virtual HerbariumSearch in Living Collections Decrease font Increase font Restore font
 

Published In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 79(1): 156, f. 2A. 1992. (Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard.) Name publication detailView in BotanicusView in Biodiversity Heritage Library
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 6/6/2016)
Acceptance : Accepted
Taxon Profile     (Last Modified On 7/21/2016)
Description: Plants 150350 mm high, stem simple or with 1 branch produce in axil of cauline leaf. Corm 915 mm in diam., tunics of hard, coarse fibres, netted above, thickened and vertical below, often forming claw-like ridges. Leaves 57, mostly in a basal fan, uppermost inserted in middle of stem, narrowly lanceolate, obliquely apiculate, reaching to between middle of stem and base of spike, 515 mm wide, sheathing lower part of stem. Spike weakly flexuose, subsecund, 24-flowered; bracts pale below with whitish veins, becoming irregularly streaked light brown above, outer 1525 mm long, ± 3 cuspidate with central cusp prominent, becoming irregularly lacerate, inner ± as long as outer, with 2 prominent cusps. Flowers zygomorphic, creamy yellow with dorsal tepal violet in upper half and lower tepals deep yellow fading to cream at tips, abaxial half of throat streaked yellow and violet, unscented; perianth tube obliquely funnel-shaped, upper part curving outward, (12)1516 mm long; tepals unequal, dorsal largest, erect to slightly hooded, (10)1516 × 910 mm, upper laterals ± 12 mm long, directed forwards, lower three tepals united basally for ± 2 mm, ± horizontal below, ± 10 mm long, channelled and flexed downward distally. Stamens unilateral, arcuate, filaments ± 13 mm long, white, anthers violet above, cream below, ± 3 mm long, fully exserted, pollen ± white. Ovary 4–5 mm long, oblong-trigonous, style arched over filaments, purple, dividing just below or opposite anther bases, branches ± 2 mm long, ascending, recurved distally, ciliate along margins ± to base, slightly expanded distally. Capsules barrel-shaped, ± 12 × 67 mm. Seeds 1.72.1 mm diam., light brown, (8)9 or 10 per locule. Chromosome number 2n = 20. Flowering time: mid August to late September.
Country: South Africa
South African Province: Western Cape
Distribution and ecology: the most widespread species of sect. Sparaxis, S. villosa extends from the Cape Peninsula northwards along the west coast and through the Tulbagh and Olifants River Valleys as far north as the Piketberg and Citrusdal.  It occurs in renosterveld on heavy clay and granite derived soils, often in rocky sites but also under low shrubs where it blooms more erratically than in open habitats.
Diagnosis: Sparaxis villosa is most easily recognized by its comparatively small flower with an erect to slightly hooded, dorsal tepal usually ± 16 mm long, much exceeding the yellow lower tepals, ± 10 mm long. The distinctive coarse corm tunic fibres are also shared with the rare S. caryophyllacea, which has larger flowers, the dorsal tepal ± 20 mm long. The two long-tubed species, S. metelerkampiae and S. variegata, also have similar corm tunics but the long perianth tube immediately sets them apart. These distinctive corm tunics define the lineage comprising these four species. The small-flowered form of S. villosa with tunics of fine fibres mentioned by Goldblatt (1992) from the Saldanha district is now recognized to represent a separate species, S. calcicola. A particularly small-flowered variant of S. villosa (Lewis 5979 NBG) has been recorded on granite outcrops at Vredenburg, with a dorsal tepal ± 10 mm long and perianth tube ± 12 mm long. These plants might easily be misidentified as S. parviflora were it not for the distinctive woody tunics.
General Notes: when first described in 1768 by N.L. Burman, Sparaxis villosa was referred to Gladiolus. Burman based G. villosus on an illustration published in Jacob Breyne's (1739) volume, Prodromi fasciculi rariorum plantarum, a series of illustrations of rare, cultivated plants. The specific epithet villosus refers to the deceptively hairy appearance of the long-cuspidate and sometimes torn floral bracts. A satisfactory identification of Burman's G. villosus was made only in 1929 when the N.E. Brown systematically reviewed and typified the Cape Iridaceae described by N.L. Burman in 1768. Prior to this time, S. villosa was known as Synnotia bicolor, a species based on Gladiolus bicolor, described by C.P. Thunberg in 1784, and collected by him at the Cape, some 10 years earlier.
Pollination: the modest-sized and fairly inconspicuous flowers appear likely to be insect pollinated but the species is self-compatible. Plants from two populations have proven to be autogamous when grown in the greenhouse and isolated from potential pollinators. The stigmas are receptive as soon as the anthers shed their pollen and the style branches remain in contact with the anthers throughout anthesis, ensuring contact of pollen with the stigmatic surfaces from the time the pollen is released. Selfing results in the production of full capsules with (8)9 or 10 seeds per locule (typically 2730 seeds per capsule), the normal complement for the species in wild plants. The autogamous habit may account for the comparatively wide range of S. villosa.

 


 

Specimens whose coordinates are enclosed in square brackets [ ] have been mapped to a standard reference mark based on political units.
 
 
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