Two New Species of Polycarpaea (Caryophyllaceae) from Somalia

Abstract

For some years now, material of some very striking cushion-forming plants has been accumulating at the end of the Caryophyllaceae, in both the Kew Herbarium and the East African Herbarium in Nairobi, in folders marked '?gen. nov.?'. These have much-branched woody stems covered with subulate leaves and with tiny pedunculate inflorescences. They were re-examined in the course of preparing an account of the Caryophyllaceae for the Flora of Ethiopia and it became clear that they had many features in common with some species of Polycarpaea, most notably P. spicata Wight ex Arn. and the very remarkable Limonium-like P. kuriensis Wagner, known only from the island of Abd al Kuri near Socotra.