Hesperantha falcata subsp. lutea, (Benth. ex Baker) Goldblatt & J. C. Manning

Goldblatt, P., Manning, J. C. & van Wyk, P. C. V., 2015, New species, combinations and range extensions in Hesperantha Ker Gawl. (Iridaceae: Crocoideae) from western South Africa *, South African Journal of Botany 98, pp. 114-121 : 119-120

3.6. H. falcata subsp. lutea (Benth. ex Baker) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning , new rank and combination.

H.lutea Benth.ex Baker [as H. lutea Benth. ], Handbk. Irid.: 149 (1892).

Type: South Africa, [Western Cape], Caledon [District], without date, C. L. Zeyher s.n. ( K, holo.!)

Hesperantha lutea var. luculenta R.C. Foster in Contr. Gray Herb. 166: 19 (1948). Type: South Africa, [Western Cape], hills at Berg River Bridge, Piketberg , 4 Sept. 1894, R. Schlechter 5261 (GH, holo.!; B!. BOL!, G, K!, P!, PRE!, S, Z!, iso.).

[ Geissorhiza lutea Eckl., Topogr. Verz. : 21 (1827), invalid name, without description.]

Like subsp. falcata except flowers diurnal, pale or deep yellow, outer tepals usually flushed brown on reverse, unscented. Flowering time: mainly late August and September; flowers opening late morning or midday and closing ±16:00.

Distribution and ecology: extending from near Caledon to Mossel Bay in southern Western Cape, on clay or clay loam slopes and flats, usually in renosterveld.

Diagnosis: subsp. lutea is readily recognized in sect. Hesperantha by the pale or deep yellow flowers. The flowers are diurnal, opening in the morning and closing in the late afternoon. Populations with deep yellow flowers occur in the south, from near Caledon to Mossel Bay and George, whereas populations in the west, from the Kobee Valley and Citrusdal to Porterville and Piketberg, have pale yellow flowers. The subspecies occurs on clay soils in renosterveld, whereas subsp. falcata is most often found on sandy ground or sandstone outcrops.

The only other yellow flowered populations in the section are a rare pale yellow-flowered morph of H. pauci fl ora from the Bokkeveld Mtns, distinguished from H. falcata by the corms bearing prominent lateral spines. H. suf fl ava has pale, watery yellow flowers and differs in consistently having only three leaves, all basal, and a style dividing in the middle rather than just below the mouth of the perianth tube.

3.6.1. Representative specimens (not including types cited above)

South Africa. WESTERN CAPE. 3139 (Calvinia): Kobee valley , (− CA), 1 Sept. 2001, Goldblatt & Porter 11794 ( MO, NBG) . 3218 (Clanwilliam): Olifants River Valley near Rondegat , (− BD), 26 July 1974, Goldblatt 2187 ( MO, NBG) . 3318 (Cape Town): Porterville , (− BB), 1 Sept. 1957, Loubser 462 ( NBG) . 3419 (Caledon): Caledon Swartberg and the Baths, (− AB) , without date, Ecklon & Zeyher Irid 236 ( B, LD, K, MO, S, SAM) ; Stanford–Caledon road, at foot of Steenboksberg , (− AD), Aug. 1976, Goldblatt 4097 ( MO, PRE, US, WAG) . 3420 (Bredasdorp): Suurbraak , (? BA), 3 Oct. 1971, Rycroft 3124 ( NBG) . 3421 (Riversdale): Weltevreden near Albertinia , (− BA), Aug. 1913, Muir 997 ( BOL, PRE, SAM) . 3422 (Mossel Bay): Mossel Bay, at turnoff to Mossindustria from N2 , (− AA), 20 Sept. 2010, Goldblatt & Porter 13563 ( MO, NBG, PRE) .

Additional exsiccatae are cited in Goldblatt (1984: 103–105) under H. falcata and marked therein with an asterisk.