Marasmodes dummeri, Bolus ex Hutch, 1917

Magee, A. R., Ebrahim, I., Koopman, R. & von Staden, L., 2017, Marasmodes (Asteraceae, Anthemideae), the most threatened plant genus of the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa: Conservation and taxonomy *, South African Journal of Botany 111, pp. 371-371 : 371-

3. Marasmodes dummeri

Bolus ex Hutch., Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1916, 172 (1917). Type: SOUTH AFRICA. Cape Town (3318): Grassy plains around Kraaifontein (– DC), Jun 1908, Dummer 1549 ( K, sheet K000036593 !, lecto., designated here; BOL!, E, K-sheet K0000378265 !, NBG!, SAM!, isolecto.) .

Laxly branched shrublets, 0.4–0.6 m tall. Leaves alternate, regularly arranged along branches, adpressed, lanceolate to linear, 2–3(4) × 0.5 mm, simple, mucronulate, secondary basal lobes rudimentary or absent; axillary fascicles absent. Capitula in clusters of 2 to 12, at branch tips. Involucre narrowly oblong to narrowly obconical, 1.5–2.0 × 3–4 mm; bract margins and apices scarious, sessile glands at appendage base inconspicuous, stereome prominent; outer bracts ovate, 0.5–1.0 mm long, margin and apex broadly scarious; middle bracts narrowly ovate to oblong, 1.5–2.0 mm long, margin broadly scarious, apex with a scarious appendage, yellowish brown; inner bracts oblong, 3.0– 3.5 mm long, margins scarious, apex with a prominent scarious appendage. Florets ca. 4 to 6; limb 5-lobed from midpoint; lobes erect to recurved. Pappus with adaxial scales less than half the length of corolla tube.

Diagnostic characters

Marasmodes dummeri

Is easily distinguished by the very short adpressed leaves, 2–3 (4) mm long, and the heads arranged in terminal clusters ( Fig. 2F & G ).

Distribution and ecology

The species is known historically from a small area between Klipheuwel, Kraaifontein and Agter-Paarl ( Fig. 3 ), where it occurs on seasonally moist flats in Swartland Alluvium Fynbos and Swartland Shale Renosterveld. The nutrient rich soils on which both these vegetation types occur are some of the most productive agricultural land in the Western Cape, and only small, isolated fragments of natural vegetation remain scattered among extensive crop fields ( Table 2 ). Surveys of these fragments indicate that it is now locally extinct at several historical localities, including the type locality at Kraaifontein , and only four small subpopulations of M. dummeri remain within an area of 134 km 2 between Klipheuwel and Muldersvlei. The largest subpopulation, which is protected within a small provincial reserve, consists of about 200 plants, and there is in total fewer than 500 plants left in the wild. There is ongoing pressure of agricultural expansion and other development on remaining habitat of this species, and therefore we assess it as Endangered , B1 ab(iii,v) + 2ab(iii,v); C2 a(i), based on its small distribution range and small, fragmented population.

Additional specimens examined

South Africa. WESTERN CAPE: 3318 (Cape Town): 2 km N of Klipheuwel along Malmesbury road (– DA), 2 May 1980, Burgers 2370 ( NBG, PRE) ; Kuilenberg farm [Kulemberg], Agter Paarl (– DB), 23 Apr 1980, Burgers 2352 ( PRE) ; Bulelwa, Agter-Paarl area (– DB), 1 May 1983, Van Zyl 3464 ( NBG, PRE) ; Bellville, Old Gymkhana Club, NE of Durbanville , S of Wellington road, farm 1165 (– DC), 28 Apr 2003, Helme 2666 ( NBG) ; Kraaifontein (– DC), May 1912, Brown s.n. ( PRE) ; Eensaamheid Nature Reserve [now Briers Louw], Agter Paarl (– DD), Burgers 2351 ( NBG) ; Briers Louw Reserve, Klapmuts (– DD), 20 Apr 2005, Hitchcock 10167 ( NBG); 26 May 2006, Walton & Pienaar 365b ( NBG, 3 sheets); gravelly soil on slope facing NW, about ¾ mile SW of Hercules Pillar (– DD), Pillans 10054 ( BOL, K) ; Joostenberg's kloof (– DD), 10 Jun 1975, Esterhuysen 33883 ( BOL, K) ; Paarl, Joostenbergkloof , N of R302 and 1 km N of Joostenberg Hill (– DD), 30 May 2002, Helme 2465 ( NBG) ; between Klapmuts and Mulders Vlei (– DD), 25 May 1938, Salter 7228 ( BOL, NBG) .

Figures

Fig. 2. General morphology of Marasmodes crewiana (A–C), M. defoliata (D & E), M. dummeri (F & G), M. fasciculata (H & I), M. macrocephala (J & K), M. oligocephala (L & M), and M.oppositifolia (O & P).

Fig. 3. The known geographical distribution of Marasmodes crewiana (circle), M. defoliata (square) and M. dummeri (stars).