Abstract
Romulea pilosa J.C.Manning Goldblatt and R. quartzicola J.C.Manning Goldblatt are two narrow endemics from the southern African winter rainfall region. An early, fragmentary collection of R. pilosa from Riviersonderend lacked the diagnostic corm and was thus mistakenly associated with R. tetragona (sect. Ciliatae) as var. flavandra M.P.de Vos because of the highly distinctive pilose, H-shaped leaf. The rediscovery of the taxon in the wild shows it to be a previously unrecognized member of sect. Aggregatae, distinguished by its unusual foliage and bright orange flowers. R. quartzicola was grown to flowering from seeds collected from quartz patches in southern Namaqualand and proved to be a new species of sect. Ciliatae, distinguished by its early flowering, short, subclavate leaves with reduced sclerenchyma strands, and bright yellow flowers with short bracts. R. neglecta M.P.de Vos, a rare endemic from the Kamiesberg in Northern Cape, is a later homonym for the Mediterranean R. neglecta Jord. Fourr., and the earliest name for this plant is shown to be R. speciosa (Ker Gawl.) Baker, typified by an illustration in Andrews’ The botanist’s repository. An epitype is designated to fix the application of the name. We have also examined the type illustration of R. pudica (Sol. ex Ker Gawl.) Baker, hitherto treated as an uncertain species, and are confident that it represents the species currently known as R. amoena Schltr. ex Bég., and takes priority over it as being the earlier name. The type of R. reflexa Eckl., a new name for the later homonym I. reflexa Thunb. and the basionym of R. rosea var. reflexa (Eckl.) Bég., has been mistakenly identified as an Ecklon collection but is in fact the collection that formed the basis of Thunberg’s I. reflexa. This collection is actually a form of R. flava Lam., and the name R. rosea var. reflexa is thus moved to the synonomy of that species. The variety currently known under this name should now be known as R. rosea var. muirii (N.E.Br.) Goldblatt J.C.Manning. Finally, the protologue of R. parviflora Eckl., until now treated under the synonomy of R. obscura Klatt var. obscura, is in fact consistent with R. rosea var. australis (Ewart) M.P.de Vos, and we therefore include the name in the synonomy of the latter.
Highlights
Romulea Maratti, one of the larger genera of Iridaceae (Goldblatt & Manning 2008), is widely distributed through eastern sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean and the Near East
Five new species have been described since the last review of the genus (Manning & Goldblatt 2001, 2004, 2006), and a further two highly local endemics are described here, bringing to 83 the number of species recorded from southern Africa and raising the total number in the genus to ± 97 spp
We reduce R. amoena to synonymy under R. pudica, a combination provided by Baker (1877)
Summary
Romulea Maratti, one of the larger genera of Iridaceae (Goldblatt & Manning 2008), is widely distributed through eastern sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean and the Near East. R. jugicola, known only from the foothills of the Kammanassie Mtns in the Little Karoo, is distinguished by its well-exserted aerial stems, up to 30 mm tall, with a well-developed, fibrous neck around the base, and orange-yellow perianth; R. dichotoma is more widespread, extending from Stanford to Humansdorp, and has mostly magenta or rarely salmon-pink flowers with a yellow cup It is most separated from R. pilosa by its generally taller stem, up to 350 mm high, usually branched dichotomously near the top, and narrower, distinctly 4-ribbed leaves, 1–2 mm in diameter. The leaves of Romulea pilosa are anatomically consistent with sect Aggregatae in their well-developed sclerenchyma girders joining the primary vascular bundles to the epidermis (Manning & Goldblatt 2001), an apomorphic character state that is only intermittently developed in subgen.
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