Published In:
Synopsis Plantarum 1: 41. 1805. ( Syn. Pl.)   
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(Last Modified On 6/9/2016)
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Acceptance
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Accepted
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(Last Modified On 6/9/2016)
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Description:
Plants 600–1300 m high. Stem subterete, often much branched, branches short, also bearing sessile or subsessile lateral flower clusters. Leaves linear to sword-shaped, often fairly broad, 3–6 mm wide, leathery and fibrotic. Flower clusters several to many, those below terminal usually sessile, mostly 5–6-flowered; spathes and bracts ovate, spoon-shaped, dry-membranous, rusty, becoming translucent on margins, bracts often entirely transparent, (10–)12–16(–18) mm long, sparsely hairy or scabrid, bracts often slightly exceeding spathes. Flowers on pedicels ± 1.5 mm long, blue, greenish in throat; tepals obovate, 18–20(–25) mm long. Filaments ± 6 mm long; anthers 4–5 mm long. Ovary ± conic-3-lobed, ± 3.5 mm long; style ± 12 mm long, minutely 3-notched at apex. Capsules in pedicels up to 3 mm long, short, 3-winged, mostly 8–10 mm long, Seeds radially compressed, irregularly 4-sided, 2–4 per locule, surface cells domed, margins smooth or papillate. Flowering time: mainly Sept.–Nov.
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Distribution and ecology:
restricted to the western half of Western Cape, South Africa, extending from the Olifants River Mtns and Cedarberg south to the Piketberg, Michell’s Pass and Du Toit’s Kloof; on stony sandstone slopes, 300–1000 m, especially conspicuous after fire but also flowering in mature vegetation.
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Diagnosis:
Aristea bracteata is readily recognized by the relatively large flower clusters enclosed by large, more or less dry, firm-textured, ovate, spoon-shaped spathes 10–18 mm long. Both the spathes and floral bracts are additionally minutely hairy, papillate or scabrid, a feature shared with A. rupicola and many populations of A. bakeri. A. bracteata has relatively narrow, firm textured leaves with conspicuous, acute, transparent to reddish margins, a distinctive feature shared with A. inaequalis. As in most of the tall species of sect. Racemosae, there is considerable variation in branching pattern. Most commonly the flowering stem has relatively long lateral branches, but one or more of the upper flower clusters on each branch is sessile. Var. elongata represents a plant with short lateral branches and an elongate main axis while var. robusta resembles var. elongata but is larger in most features. Floral bracts of var. elongata are especially long, 15–18 mm, where the normal range is 12–16 mm. There seems to be no need to formally recognize these local variants as they intergrade, sometimes even in the same populations. Seeds of A. bracteata as presently interpreted vary from those with smooth margins in the north of its range to those from the south with papillate margins. The significance of this variation remains to be investigated.
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General Notes:
a confused taxonomic history surrounds this fairly common Western Cape species. C.P. Thunberg, associated Gladiolus capitatus L. with his Moraea caerulea, described in 1787, with the caveat ‘vid. differt. nostr. tab. 1’ [different from the plant shown in our figure 1]. Nomenclaturally M. caerulea has been interpreted as superfluous and thus an illegitimate name, as is the combination A. caerulea (Thunb.) Vahl. The substitute name A. monticola was proposed by Goldblatt (1971) for the species, then unaware that the name A. bracteata Pers. (1805) was available for the species. Persoon actually renamed Thunberg’s Moraea caerulea when he placed the species in Aristea, normally an unacceptable action. Happily, in hindsight, this provided a legitimate name for Thunberg’s plant, although one that was overlooked for almost 200 years.
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