Cyanella marlothii

PLANTAE / PHANEROGAMAE / ANTHOPHYTA / ASPARAGALES / TECOPHILAEACEAE / TECOPHILAEOIDEAE / CYANELLA / MARLOTHII

Cyanella marlothii J.C.Manning & Goldblatt

CR Indigenous

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Morphological description

Plants 200-350 mm high. Corms moderately deep-seated, 15-30 mm diam., tunics of coarsely netted, wiry fibres, extending shortly into a fibrous neck to 20 mm long, pale brown or grey. Basal leaves 4-6, suberect, linear or linear-lanceolate, 50-100 x 2-6 mm, acute to attenuate, canaliculate or involute, with prominent midrib and ribbed veins abaxially, firm-textured, glabrous, margins ± undulate, sparsely scabridulous-ciliolate. Inflorescence a moderately dense raceme up to 20-flowered, with up to 2 branches, lower flowers 0.5-0.6 times pedicel length apart; pedicels suberect, deflexed at bracteole, mostly 20-30 mm long; bracteoles inserted in upper third. Flowers facing outwards, pale mauve (`blue') with darker veins, ?fragrant; tepals spreading, outer elliptic, 10-12 x 2-3 mm, apiculate, inner oblanceolate, 10-12 x 2-3, narrowed below. Stamens dimorphic, 3 + 3; filaments erect but deflexed apically, 2-3 mm long, connate halfway or more into cylindrical tube 1-2 mm long, posterior anthers ± sagittate, outer smaller, 1.5-2.0 mm long, median 2.0-2.5 mm long, yellow but greyish or mauve distally, anterior anthers 3-4 mm long, yellow basally but greyish or mauve in distal 2/3. Ovary half inferior, style medially deflexed, ± 6 mm long, extending shortly beyond anthers. Capsules subglobose, 6-7 mm diam, 3-lobed. Seeds unknown. From: Goldblatt, P; Manning, JC. 2012. A revision of Tecophilaeaceae subfam. Tecophilaeoideae in Africa. Bothalia 42(1): 21-41. [CC BY]

Cormous geophyte, 200-350 mm tall. Leaves linear. Flowers on suberect pedicels, pink to mauve, fragrant, tepals 10-12 mm; anthers bicoloured yellow and grey, 3 upper and 3 lower, filaments connate ± halfway into a tube; style ± as long as lower stamens. Capsule subglobose, 7-10 mm long. From: Manning, JC. 2013. Tecophilaeaceae. In: DA Snijman (ed.), Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region 2: The Extra Cape flora. Strelitzia 30: 161-162. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. [CC BY]

Diagnostic description

This distinctive species has the 3+3 arrangement of stamens that characterizes sect. Trigella but is distinguished from other members in the section by having the filaments of all six stamens connate for half to two thirds of their length into a cylindrical or conical tube that completely encloses the ovary. Although the species is based on just a single collection, this comprises three essentially identical individuals. These plants were included in C. orchidiformis until now, despite their unique androecium. In this context it is sigificant that Marloth, who also collected true C. orchidiformis from Steinkopf on the same trip as C. marlothii, correctly identified the former but treated the latter as C. capensis (now C. hyacinthoides), a clear indication that he considered the Ploegberg collection to be distinct from C. orchidiformis, although he was misled by the connate filaments into misidentifying it as C. hyacinthoides. The latter does not occur in the Richtersveld and is in any event immediately distinguished by its 5 + 1 arrangement of anthers and by the spreading-geniculate pedicels.Among the members of sect. Trigella, Cyanella marlothii resembles C. ramosissima in its narrow leaves, 2-6 mm wide, pale mauve or blue flowers with darker veins, and apparently ± globose capsules but is separated from it by its smaller flowers with tepals 10-12 vs 13-20 mm long, bicoloured vs plain yellow anthers, and shorter style, ± 6 mm long and only slightly longer than the anthers vs 10-15 mm long and ± twice as long as the anthers. From: Goldblatt, P; Manning, JC. 2012. A revision of Tecophilaeaceae subfam. Tecophilaeoideae in Africa. Bothalia 42(1): 21-41. [CC BY]

Habitat

Sandy flats. From: Goldblatt, P; Manning, JC. 2012. A revision of Tecophilaeaceae subfam. Tecophilaeoideae in Africa. Bothalia 42(1): 21-41. [CC BY]

Stony flats. From: Manning, JC. 2013. Tecophilaeaceae. In: DA Snijman (ed.), Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region 2: The Extra Cape flora. Strelitzia 30: 161-162. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. [CC BY]

Distribution

Near the Ploegberg, south of Kuboes in the Richtersveld. From: Goldblatt, P; Manning, JC. 2012. A revision of Tecophilaeaceae subfam. Tecophilaeoideae in Africa. Bothalia 42(1): 21-41. [CC BY]

Richtersveld: Khubus. From: Manning, JC. 2013. Tecophilaeaceae. In: DA Snijman (ed.), Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region 2: The Extra Cape flora. Strelitzia 30: 161-162. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. [CC BY]

Occurrence records map

This map contains point-based occurrences at different locations

iNaturalist: BODATSA: Data partners records:

Residence status

Occurrence in the Flora of Southern Africa (FSA) countries and South African provinces. Residence status indicates if a taxon is indigenous, endemic, naturalised or invasive in a specific region. This data is based on specimen records and literature

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