Stoebe muirii Levyns (1937: 27)

Koekemoer, Marinda, 2016, A monograph of Stoebe and Seriphium (Gnaphalieae, Asteraceae) in southern Africa and neighbouring islands, Phytotaxa 242 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

10. Stoebe muirii Levyns (1937: 27) . Type :— SOUTH AFRICA. Still Bay, Muir 2399 (BOL!, holotype; PRE!, SAM!, isotypes).

Vernacular name: Krulblaarslangbos

Low, spreading, much-branched shrubs, up to 0.8 m tall. Branches arising at wide angles, very often in whorls and candelabrum-like, very densely leafy, stems and leaves densely tomentose with a greyish appearance. Leaves flat and open with a prominent midrib; mucronate, spreading at the base but markedly twisted and curving inwards towards the stem, pigtail-like, up to 5 × 3 mm; margins slightly involute, abaxial surface covered in very long, straight, flexible, adpressed hairs that tease out along the margins to create a ciliate appearance; adaxial surface woolly, hairs with a hairpin bent in the middle and upper part twisting around lower part. Synflorescences of many capitula massed together in terminal, cylindrical spikes up to 40 × 10 mm, interspersed with subtending leaves;

70 • Phytotaxa 242 (1) © 2016 Magnolia Press

KOEKEMOER several capitula per leaf axil. Capitula homogamous, discoid, 1-flowered. Involucral bracts 10–14, in few rows; outermost short-woolly; innermost scarious, about as long as the corolla, acuminate, slightly hooded below the fine tip, margins thin. Florets bisexual; bright pink, corolla lobes spreading. Stamens 5, apical appendages lanceolate, basal tails poorly developed. Style bifid, with bulbous base. Nectaries present. Cypselas with short, shaggy, adpressed hairs, hairs longer and curling below the annulus, ribs faintly marked, carpopodium well developed. Pappus setae 14–18, a little longer than the corolla tube, slightly fused at the base, sparsely barbed in the lower third; plumose in the upper two thirds; plumes fine, soft, ascending or spreading, not tufted at the tips. Flowering March and April, occasionally May and June.

Distribution and habitat: —Restricted to a few localities between Stilbaai and Bredasdorp, in the southern Cape. Figure 28 .

Ecology: —Coastal limestone ridges, often in disturbed places and roadsides, below an elevation of 100 m.

Conservation status: —Evaluated as Vulnerable on the SANBI Red List of South African Plants, and although it is known from a few localities only, it thrives in disturbed areas and in the past few years has expanded its natural distribution area considerably.

Additional specimens examined:— SOUTH AFRICA, Western Cape. Bredasdorp, De Hoop Nature Reserve, flats north of Fransfontein (3420AD), 17 March 1977, Hugo 874 (K, NBG, PRE); Farm De Hoop , Bredasdorp. Foot of limestone ridge (3420AD), 10 April 1957, Levyns 10692 (BOL); Wydgeleë , 100 m from

STOEBE AND SERIPHIUM ( GNAPHALIEAE )

Phytotaxa 242 (1) © 2016 Magnolia Press • 71 Dronkvlei buildings. De Hoop Nat. Res. (3420AD), Manchip & Ashton 80 (BOL); De Hoop, Potberg Nature Reserve, limestone flats between De Hoop houses and Die Mond (3420BC), 9 April 1981, Burgers 2665 (NBG, PRE); Bredasdorp, 2 miles NNW of Skipskop (3420CB), 22 June 1962, Acocks 22263 (PRE); Bredasdorp, limestone flats NW of Skipskop (3420CB), 22 March 1975, Oliver 5791 (NBG); Still Bay, Riethuiskraal (3421AD), 16 April 1978, Bohnen 3836 (NBG); Still Bay Panorama Circle, S aspect (3421AD), 29 March 1979, Bohnen 5273 (K, NBG, PRE); Still Bay, limestone ridge below reservoir (3421AD), 18 June 1980, Bohnen 7568 (K, NBG, PRE); Still Bay State Forest, reclaimed calcitic driftsands (3421AD), 22 April 1973, Britton 28 (NBG, PRE); Still Bay hills, Strandhuisrug to Riethuiskraal (3421AD), 18 August 1980, Cameron & Manchip 29 (BOL); 4 km from Stilbay to N2 (3421AD), 1 April 1996, Koekemoer 1282 (PRE); Stilbaai, Pauline Bohnen Nature Reserve (3421AD), 4 March 1991, Koekemoer 564 (PRE); Riversdale, Stilbaai West, sand dunes (3421AD), 21 April 1962, Middlemost 2198 (NBG); Riversdale, Still Bay on hills (3421AD), April 1917, Muir 2399 (BOL, PRE, SAM); Hills near Stil Bay (3421AD), March 1909, Muir 435 (PRE); Blikhuis, NE of Still Bay, limestone hills (3421AD), 21 March 1975, Oliver 5756 (NBG); Riversdale, Still Bay, Rietvlei along the road from Still Bay to Gouritz River mouth, dunes with occasional chalk ridges (3421BC), 28 April 1987, Linder 4084 (K, PRE); De Hoop, 1 km from main entrance towards pass, low vegetation on limestone, roadside 93420AD), 19 March 1985, CM van Wyk 2248 (NBG, PRE).

Figures

FIGURE 28:—Known distribution of Stoebe muirii in South Africa.