A new species of orchid from the north-western Cape

The new species, Corycium ingeanum E.G.H. Oliver (Orchidaceae), is described from the Cape Province. It is allied to the common C. orobanchoides Sw. and the rare C. deftexum H. Bol. from both of which it differs in numerous characters, the most noticeable being the larger more open flowers with striking dark red to black tips to the petals

Hyacinthaceae: Drimia oliverorum(Urgineodeae), a new species from Southern Namibia

[No abstract available]Articl

Disa linderiana (Orchidaceae), a new orchid from the Western Cape of South Africa

Disa linderiana, a new species belonging to Disa sect. Disella, is described from the high mountains of the western part of the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. It is most closely related to Disa tenuicornis on account of the shortly bisaccate galea and narrow subpendent spur. © 2007 SAAB.Articl

Disa albomagentea (Orchidaceae), a new species from the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

A new orchid, Disa albomagentea, is described from the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is an obligately fire-dependent species closely related to Disa obtusa (sect. Disella), from which it can be easily distinguished by the larger flowers, i.e. galea 7-9 mm long versus 4-7 mm long, which are patent and bicoloured, i.e. magenta, white and not spotted versus purple brown, white to cream to greenish, and variously purple spotted. It appears to be endemic to seeps and marshes on the high peaks. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Article in Pres

A densely sampled ITS phylogeny of the Cape flagship genus Erica L. suggests numerous shifts in floral macro-morphology

Erica L. is the largest of the 'Cape' clades that together comprise around half of the disproportionately high species richness of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa. Around 840 species of Erica are currently recognised, C.680 of which are found in the CFR, the rest distributed across the rest of Southern Africa, the highlands of Tropical Africa and Madagascar, and Europe. Erica is taxonomically well documented, but very little is known about species-level relationships. We present the first densely sampled phylogenetic analysis of Erica, using nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences (internal transcribed spacers; ITS) of c. 45% of the species from across the full geographic range of the genus, both Calluna and Daboecia (Ericeae; monotypic genera and putative sister groups of Erica), and further Ericoideae outgroups. Our results show both morphological and geographic coherence of some clades, but numerous shifts in floral macro-morphology as represented by variation in individual morphological characters and pollination syndromes. European Ericeae is a paraphyletic grade subtending a monophyletic African/Malagasy Erica. Given the limited resolution of this single gene tree, more data are needed for further conclusions. Clades are identified that will serve as an effective guide for targeted sampling from multiple linkage groups. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.Articl

Pterygodium vermiferum (Coryciinae), a new, autonomously self-pollinating, oil-secreting orchid from the Western Cape of South Africa

Pterygodium vermiferum, a new orchid belonging to the subtribe Coryciinae, is described from the coastal region in the southwestern part of the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. It is most similar to Pterygodium volucris (L.f.) Sw. and differs most obviously in the possession of several remarkable long twisted appendages arising from the rostellum and in having a cucullate rather than tubular galea. The flowers open very briefly before wilting and setting seed by autonomous self-pollination. The morphological autapomorphies that define the species are interpreted as adaptations for autonomous self-pollination in a clade that is ancestrally pollinated by oil-collecting Rediviva bees. The description of P. vermiferum requires that another pollination independent Pterygodium taxon (P. newdigateae Bolus var. cleistogamum Bolus) also be awarded species status. © 2008 SAAB.Articl

Disa albomagentea (Orchidaceae), a new species from the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

AbstractA new orchid, Disa albomagentea, is described from the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. It is an obligately fire-dependent species closely related to Disa obtusa (sect. Disella), from which it can be easily distinguished by the larger flowers, i.e. galea 7–9mm long versus 4–7mm long, which are patent and bicoloured, i.e. magenta, white and not spotted versus purple brown, white to cream to greenish, and variously purple spotted. It appears to be endemic to seeps and marshes on the high peaks

New species of thamnea and brunia from Western Cape, South Africa

[No abstract available]Articl