Nolletia rarifolia ( Turczaninow 1851: 65 ) Steetz (1864: 404)

Herman, Paul P. J., 2013, Cypsela morphology in the genus Nolletia (Asteraceae, Astereae) and a revision of the genus, Phytotaxa 122 (1), pp. 1-44 : 24-25

7. Nolletia rarifolia ( Turczaninow 1851: 65) Steetz (1864: 404) ; Wood (1904: 348); Hilliard (1977: 98); Gibbs Russell et al. (1984: 125; 1987: 216); Herman (1993: 714; 2006: 232; 2006: 232); Retief & Herman (1997: 327); Klopper et al. (2006: 142). Basionym: Leptothamnus rarifolius Turcz. ; Harvey (1865: 111). Type:— SOUTH AFRICA. Gauteng: Magaliesberg,

(QDS: 2527DC/DD Rustenburg), October 1841, Zeyher 802 (holotype KW e!, isotypes G (Bar code G00370732 ) e!,

P e!, SAM (NBG) e!, W e!). Iconography: — Germishuizen & Clarke (2003, Fig. p. 129), Van Wyk & Malan (1988, Fig. 248, p. 115).

Mostly inconspicuously leafy, erect, perennial herb or suffrutex, up to 0.45 m high, more prominently leafy in Mpumalanga and some KwaZulu-Natal specimens. Simple, annual stems arise from vertical underground rootstock, often purplish at base, sparsely branched in upper part, ribbed, often with embedded dark gland dots, spreading pubescent below, glabrescent to glabrous upwards, rarely with some glandular hairs as well. Leaves alternate, few, usually much shorter than internodes, appressed to stem, sessile, linear-triangular to linear, 2–20 (up to 35 mm in Mpumalanga specimens) × 0.5–1.0 mm; acute; broadened at base and semiclasping; often folded lengthwise; margins entire, sometimes sparsely ciliate; mostly glabrous to sparsely spreading pubescent on lower surface, rarely with a few glandular hairs; with embedded gland dots on lower surface between midrib and margin. Capitula heterogamous, disciform, 10–12 mm in diameter, arranged in loose, terminal corymbs. Involucre campanulate. Involucral bracts arranged in 4 rows, imbricate, all with orange to almost black oil sacs along midrib, rarely without dark oil sacs, apices sometimes purplish, persistent after flowering, recurved; outer bracts narrowly ovate or narrowly obovate, 2 × ± 0.2–0.6 mm, acute to acuminate, with very narrowly membranous margin, spreading pubescent or glabrous; second row narrowly ovate or obovate, 2.5–4.0 × 0.5–1.0 mm, acute to acuminate, with narrowly membranous, fimbriate margin, spreading pubescent or glabrous; third row narrowly ovate to narrowly obovate, 3.2–6.0 × 0.8–1.4 mm, acute to acuminate, with broadly membranous, fimbriate margin, glabrous or with a few spreading hairs along the midrib; inner row narrowly obovate, 4.5–6.0 × 1.0– 1.6 mm, acute, with broadly membranous, fimbriate margin, glabrous or with a few spreading hairs along the midrib. Receptacle epaleate, foveolate. Outer female florets 15–24, in 1 row, fertile, filiform; tube 1.5–2.0 mm long, with glandular hairs; 3- or 4-(5-)lobed, lobes much shorter than style furcation; corolla yellow. Style 2.4–3.0 mm long, bifurcate; style branches 0.5–0.8 mm long, apex rounded to acute; stigmatic areas along margin and confluent at apex. Cypsela and pappus as in disc florets. Disc florets 50–79, regular, bisexual, fertile; tubular below, widening slightly above, tube 2–3 mm long, with glandular hairs on lower half of tube, 5-lobed, lobes 1 mm long, often with dark lines (resin ducts) along margins; corolla yellow. Anthers 1.2–2.0 mm long; with ovate apical appendage, 0.5 mm long; base shortly calcarate, ecaudate; filament collars with thick-walled cells. Style 3.5–4.0 mm long, bifurcate; style branches 0.5–0.8 mm long, with deltoid-penicillate apical appendages; stigmatic areas along margins, not confluent at apex. Cypsela dark reddish brown with whitish, thickened margin, obovoid, laterally flattened, 2.0–3.5 × 1.0– 1.5 mm ( Fig. 1F ); covered with twin hairs, often unequal, apices of hairs acute; epicarpic cells oblong, arranged in regular rows. Pappus bristles barbellate, in 1 row, 2.5–4.0 mm long. Flowering time: September to April.

Distribution and habitat: — Limpopo, North-West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape ( Fig. 10 ), growing in grassland in sandy or rocky soil, on flats, hill slopes and rocky outcrops. The red list status of this species is LC (Least Concern) ( Raimondo et al. 2009).

Discussion: —The leaves of the specimens from the Lydenburg, Nelspruit and Barberton areas (Mpumalanga) and some KwaZulu-Natal specimens are much longer than those of specimens from the rest of the distribution range, almost approaching those of N. ruderalis . However the orange or dark coloured oil sacs in the involucral bracts of N. rarifolia are distinct and give it a characteristic appearance, in contrast to the pale and minutely white-punctate involucral bracts of N. ruderalis .

Typification: — Turczaninow (1851) quoted only Zeyher 802 in his description of Leptothamnus rarifolius , but did not mention any locality. The SAM (NBG) specimen of Zeyher 802 has written on it 164.10. The 10 represents the month of flowering (October) and the 164 is the Zeyher locality. According to Glen & Germishuizen (2010) the locality 164 was at Magaliesberg where Zeyher collected in 1841. The Zeyher 803 specimen on JSTOR (2011) had written on it Magaliesberg. Steetz (1864) also quoted Zeyher 802 when he made the new combination in Nolletia . It is clear that Zeyher 802 is the type and not Zeyher 803, nor Gilfillan 6015 as indicated on JSTOR (2011).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Cypselae of Nolletia species as seen under the stereomicroscope: (A) N. gariepina (Warren 78, PRE); (B) N. tenuifolia (Giess 10863, PRE); (C) N. ciliaris (Jacot Guillarmod 377, PRE); (D) N. jeanettae (Bester 8534, PRE); (E) N. welmaniae (Winter 7649, PRE); (F) N. rarifolia (Van Hoepen 1825, PRE); (G) N. ruderalis (Compton 27385, PRE); (H) N. vanhoepeniae (Koekemoer 3899, PRE); (I) N. zambesica (Maguire 1693, PRE); (J) N. chrysocomoides (Merxmüller & Giess 3579, PRE); (K) N. annetjieae (Van Rooyen 3714, PRE). Photographs by P.P.J. Herman.

FIGURE 10. Known geographical distribution of N. rarifolia (̝), N. zambesica (●) and N. chrysocomoides × N. annetjieae (․). The grey dot representing Ngamiland as there was no specific locality.