Chamaecrista grandiglandulata Musandiwa & Boatwr.

Musandiwa, Liada, Magee, Anthony R. & Boatwright, James S., 2022, A Taxonomic Revision of Chamaecrista (Caesalpinioideae, Cassieae, Cassiinae) in Southern Africa, Systematic Botany (Basel, Switzerland) 47 (4), pp. 992-1011 : 1005

8. Chamaecrista grandiglandulata Musandiwa & Boatwr. , sp. nov.

TYPE: SOUTH AFRICA. KwaZulu-Natal Province, Mutubatuba (2832), ‘north coast Richards Bay Harbour’ (–CC), 23 Feb 1993, Ward 12210 (holotype: PRE!, isotype NU!).

Annual herbs to 1.5 m high. Stems erect, arising from a woody rootstock, erect, usually branching above the middle, pubescent, with short curved hairs. Leaves paripinnate, 40–74 × 3–7 mm; slightly tapering distally, stipules triangular, 6–8(9) mm long, glabrous, base oblique, apex narrowly acuminate, margin with short hairs; extrafloral nectaries at or near top of petiole, large, overlaps the sides of petiole, 1–2 × 0.5–1.0 mm, sessile, oval to circular or elliptic, brown; rachis crested. Leaflets 40–74-jugate, base oblique, apex mucronate; margin with curved scattered hairs. Inflorescence supra-axillary, 1–2 flowered; flowers 6–10 × 5–8; bracts pubescent, base oblique, apex acuminate; bracteoles 2, glabrous or with short hairs, towards the top of pedicel. Pedicels with short or curved hairs, at flowering 5–7 mm long, at fruiting 7–10 mm long. Sepals 5, narrowly lanceolate, 5–6 × 1–4 mm, with short appressed hairs. Petals 5, oblong, 5–10 × 3–5 mm, pale yellow. Stamens 10, straight or slightly curved, anthers in two series, 6 small 2–4 mm long, 4 large, 5–10 mm long, with short filaments ± 1 mm long. Ovary ± 7 mm long, densely covered with greyish to whitish matted hairs, style curved, glabrous. Pods straight or slightly curved in the middle, 32–50 × 3–4 mm, flattened, with short or long fine hairs. Seeds 2.0–3.5 × 1.5–2.5, rhomboid, flattened, dark brown to blackish. Figure 12 .

Diagnostic Characters — Chamaecrista grandiglandulata shares a crested rachis with Chamaecrista gordon-grayei , C. mimosoides and C. plumosa . It is readily distinguished by its short leaves 40–74 mm long (36–104 mm long in C. gordon-grayei and 30–85 mm long in C. mimosoides ); large, sessile, elliptic extrafloral nectaries that overlap the sides of petiole, 1–2 × 0.5–1 mm ( Fig. 3F ) (circular, sessile or raised on small stalk, ± 0.5 × 0.2–0.4 mm in C. gordon-grayei and small, ± 0.5 mm long, sessile, rounded in C. mimosoides ) and short pedicels bearing small pale yellow flowers (bright flowers in C. gordon-grayei ).

Distribution and Ecology — Chamaecrista grandiglandulata is restricted to the coastal regions of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa from Ubombo to Port Shepstone, occurring in open grassland at elevations below 500 m ( Fig. 13 ). Flowering from September to July.

Etymology —This species epithet refers to the large, sessile, elliptic extrafloral nectaries characteristic of this species.

Additional Specimens Examined — South Africa. — KWAZULU-NATAL: 2732 (Ubombo): Baya Camp, Sibaya south western basin (– BC), 12 Dec 1985, Ward 1219 ( NH) ; Lake Sibayi (– BC), 13 Feb 1976, Brenan 14218 ( NBG) ; Mkuze Swamps, Ukhovu Pan area (– DC), 9 Sep 1972, Ward 8102 ( NU) . 2831 (Nkandla): Egodeni, Hluhluwe Game Reserve, Zululand (–AA), 19 Mar 1972, Nitchins 804 ( NU) . 2832 (Mtubatuba): Khula village (–AA), 18 Mar 2018, Musandiwa 17 ( NBG) ; Hluhluwe Game Reserve, Zululand (–AA), 28 Mar 1972, Hutchins 804 ( NU) ; Hlabisa, Dukuduku (–AC), 22 Jan 1965, Strey 5710 ( NU) ; Umfolozi, Richards Bay (–DD), 6 Jul 1974, Ward 8652 ( NU) ; Umfolozi, Richards Bay (–DD), 14 Jul 1929, Rump s.n. ( NU) ; Mtunzini near river estuary (–DD), 22 Jan 1980, Arnold 1408 ( PRE) . 2930 (Pietermaritzburg): Westville Chilten Hills (–DD), 10 Feb 1968, Ward 6409 ( NU) ; Greater Durban Metropolitan Area, Kloof extension 13 (–DD), 16 Apr 1995, Ward 13069 ( NU) ; Umlaas River (–DD), 6 Dec 1973, Stirton 521 ( NU) . 2931 (Stanger): Inyoni, Zululand (–BA), 10 Dec 1951, Johnson s.n. ( NBG) ; Lower Tugela (–CA), 27 Mar 1964, Ross 862 ( NU) ; Merebank East (–CC), 7 Mar 1966, Ward 5406 ( NU) ; Wentworth (–CC), 29 Feb 1968, Ward 6514 ( NU) . 3030 (Port Shepstone): 8 km to Kingsburg (–BB), 24 Sep 1974, Wood 199 ( NU) ; Illovo beach (–BB), 7 Mar 1972, Schorn 33 ( NU) ; Koelwaters resort ca. 4 km from Ntwalume (–BC), 2 Apr 2003, Bester 4050 ( PRE) ; Uvongo and Depps road (–CB), 10 Mar 1970, Strey 9706 ( NU) ; St. Michaels on sea, 1.5 km inland (–CD), 23 Feb 1969, Nicholson 772 ( PRE) ; Margate (–CD), 6 Apr 1975, Strey 11320 ( NU) .

Figures

FIG. 12. Morphology of Chamaecrista grandiglandulata. A1–A5. Petals. B. Ovary, densely hairy. C1–C3. Stamens, with anthers in three series. Voucher:

FIG. 3. Extrafloral nectaries of Chamaecrista species. A. C. mimosoides, sessile, circular or circular-elliptic. B. C. capensis var. capensis, circular, sub-sessile or attached on small stalk. C. C. biensis, circular, concave, sub-sessile or raised on small stalk. D. C. comosa subsp. capriconia, elliptic, sessile, spreading over the petiole. E. C. comosa subsp. comosa, sessile, slightly sunken in petiole. F. C. grandiglandulata, large, sessile, elliptic, overlapping the sides of petiole. G. C. gordon-grayei subsp. longipedicellata, sub-sessile to sessile, circular. H. C. falcata, extrafloral nectaries, long stalked, concave on top. Vouchers: A. Burtt & Hilliard 3215 (NU). B. Walker 119 (PRE). C. Phelan 1120 (PRE). D. Burger 292 (PRE). E. Arnold 792 (NU). F. Ward 1219 (NH). G. De Winter and Wiss 4423 (PRE). H. Ward 2439 (PRE).Scale bars = 5 mm).

FIG. 13. Distribution of Chamaecrista grandiglandulata in southern Africa.