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Moraea autumnalis (Goldblatt) 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: Novon 8(4): 374. 1998. (Novon) 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 7/15/2016)
Description: Plants 160–300 mm high. Corm globose, ± 20 mm diam.; tunics of coarse, black fibres. Stem slightly flexed below nodes, usually 2-several branched (simple), bearing attenuate sheathing leaves 35–60 mm long. Foliage leaf solitary, basal, ± linear, flat to broadly channelled, sheathing base of stem, barely exceeding to slightly shorter than stem, with a prominent thickened, flat apical portion. Rhipidial spathes becoming dry and brown above, attenuate, inner 45–70 mm long, outer ± 1/2 as long. Flowers probably long-lived, bright yellow, all tepal limbs with darker yellow nectar guides at bases, spreading, tepal claws erect, forming a narrow cup around filament column and bases of anthers; outer tepals 32–40 × ±15 mm, claws 9–10 mm long, inner tepals 30–35 × 8–12 mm. Filaments united in a smooth, cylindric the column 7–9 mm long; anthers narrowly diverging, 5–7 mm long, exceeding stigmatic lobes, curving inward above. Ovary ± cylindric, 8–9 mm long, exserted; style branches ± 3 mm long, crests triangular, 2 mm long. Capsules oblong, 8–15 mm long, exserted. Seeds unknown. Chromosome number 2n = 12. Flowering time: April to early June.
Type specimen: Peter Goldblatt - 5504 - MO - (BC:MO-202547/A:2775316)
Country: South Africa
South African Province: Western Cape
Distribution and ecology: known only from the mountains around Elands Kloof, southeast of Citrusdal; in stony, sandy mountain soil, apparently flowering well only in the years immediately following a fire.
Diagnosis: unusual in the genus in its early flowering time, April to June (autumn and early winter), Moraea autumnalis s recognized by the solitary foliage leaf inserted close to the base, sparsely branched (rarely simple) slightly flexuose stem and yellow flowers with the tepal claws ± erect and forming a narrow cup 9–10 mm long enclosing the filament column and bases of the anthers. The filaments are entirely united in a cylindric column minutely papillate in the lower half and the anthers, 5–7 mm long, twice as long as the style branches, arch inward after dehiscence. The style branches bear short, horizontal crests. When described M. autumnalis was thought to be closely allied to M. pyrophila (as Homeria galpinii) because they have a similar vegetative morphology and broadly similar flowers but the claws of the pale yellow tepals of M. pyrophila form a cup enclosing both filaments and anthers and the shorter filaments, 4–5 mm long, are conspicuously pubescent in the lower half. The anthers are usually shorter than the style branches, which like those of M. autumnalis bear short crests. It is probably significant the flowering in M. pyrophila is also relatively early in the season, mostly in July and August but it has been recorded in bloom as early as March and April. M. autumnalis was first collected by C.L. Leipoldt in 1932 and again only in 1980 when the type collection was made.

 


 

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