Nolletia ciliaris (de Candolle 1836: 367) 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 : 15-17

4. Nolletia ciliaris (de Candolle 1836: 367) Steetz (1864: 404) ; Merxmüller (1967: 119); Wild (1975: 19, 20); Hilliard (1977: 97); Gibbs Russell et al. (1984: 125; 1987: 215); Merxmüller & Roessler (1984: 84); Herman (1993: 714; 2003: 261; 2006: 232); Retief & Herman (1997: 327); Craven (1999: 162); Klopper et al. (2006: 142). Basionym: Leptothamnus ciliaris DC. ; Harvey (1865: 111). Type:— SOUTH AFRICA. Northern Cape: Little

Klibbolikhonni [Fontein], (QDS: 2723 CD Kuruman), 16 December 1812, Burchell 2512 (lectotype: G-DC (Bar

code G00321822) e! designated here; isolectotypes: A photocopy!, K e!, P!, W e!).

= Nolletia ericoides Merxmüller (1955: 78) ; Merxmüller (1967: 119); Gibbs Russell et al. (1984: 125; 1987: 215); Herman (1993: 714; 2003: 261); Craven (1999: 162); Klopper et al. (2006: 142). Type:— NAMIBIA. Okavango Valley, west of Rundu, on small, sandy, dry hill, (QDS: 1719DC Rundu), 8 May 1939, Volk 1941 (holotype M e!, isotypes MO e!, PRE!).

Densely leafy, caespitose or ascending, perennial herb or suffrutex, rarely developing into a dwarf shrub, 0.1– 0.3 m high. Stems upright, sparsely branched, greenish, totally glabrous or basally glabrous to sparsely hairy, apically more hairy and also sometimes stipitate-glandular, older parts of stems with hard, persistent remains of leaf main veins. Leaves subopposite at base, alternate upwards, densely set, imbricate, sessile; lineartriangular to linear, (3–)4–6(–12) mm long, less than 1 mm broad; apex acute; base semi-amplexicaul; margin entire, mostly shortly to prominently (up to 1 mm long) ciliate, rarely without cilia; upper surface glabrous; lower surface glabrous to spreading pubescent, sometimes glandular-hairy as well; main vein very prominent abaxially, occupying most of the lower leaf surface; often dark coloured embedded oil glands regularly set on both sides of main vein, visible on abaxial surface; sometimes leaf tufts in axils of lower leaves. Capitula heterogamous, disciform, 8–10 mm in diameter, solitary at ends of branches, pedunculate. Peduncle 10–40 mm long, glabrous, spreading pubescent and/or glandular-hairy, sometimes with 1 or 2 bracts. Involucre infundibuliform to campanulate. Involucral bracts in 3 or 4 rows, imbricate, glabrous, often with yellow or dark coloured embedded oil sacs along midline, often purplish, persistent and recurved in old inflorescences; outer bracts narrowly ovate, 2–3 × 0.5–0.6 mm, acuminate, with very narrowly membranous, entire margin, with darker central portion; middle bracts very narrowly ovate to obovate, 2.5–4.0 × 0.5–0.8 mm, acuminate, with narrowly membranous, entire margin, upper central portion darkish, lower portion lighter; inner bracts very narrowly obovate to almost linear to narrowly oblong, up to 3.0–4.5 × 0.5–1.0 mm, acuminate, with broader, membranous entire margin. Receptacle epaleate, foveolate. Outer female florets up to 45, arranged in 1 or 2 rows, fertile, filiform; tube 1.5–2.0 mm long, shorter than style furcation ( Fig. 3G ), glabrous, rarely with a few glandular hairs, 3–5-dentate; corolla yellow or purplish. Style 2.0– 2.5 mm long, bifurcate; branches up to 1 mm long, apex rounded to acute; stigmatic areas marginal, converging at apex. Cypsela and pappus as in disc florets. Disc florets up to 45, regular, bisexual, fertile, corolla infundibuliform; tubular part 2–3 mm long, rarely with a few glandular hairs on tube; 5-lobed, lobes 0.5–1.0 mm long, often with resin ducts in sinuses of closed lobes and resin ducts along margins when opened; corolla yellow or purplish towards apex. Anthers 1.0– 1.5 mm long; apical appendage narrowly ovate; base shortly calcarate, ecaudate; filament collar with thickened cell walls. Style 2.5–3.5 mm long, bifurcate; branches 0.5–1.0 mm long, apex with deltoidpenicillate apical appendages; stigmatic areas along margin only, not converging at apex. Cypsela light brownish (fawn) with darker margin—almost a double line with lighter centre, narrowly obovoid, laterally compressed, 1.5–2.0 × 0.5–0.8 mm ( Fig. 1C ); with densely set twin hairs, often unequal in length, apices of twin hairs acute or slightly broadened; epicarpic cells oblong, arranged in parallel rows. Pappus of barbellate bristles, up to 3.5 mm long. Flowering time: September to May.

Distribution and habitat: — Namibia, Botswana, North-West, Gauteng, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape ( Fig. 7 ), growing in sand among rocks, on flats, koppies or slopes in grassveld. The red list status of this species in South Africa is LC (Least Concern) ( Raimondo et al. 2009).

Notes and discussion: — De Candolle (1836) in his original description of Leptothamnus ciliaris , quoted Burchell 1839 and 2512 and Drège s.n. ( Klipplat river ). Harvey (1865) quoted Burchell 1839 and 2512 and later in the description quoted Burchell with no numbers, presumably referring to the previous two specimens, Drège ( Klipplaat River ), Zeyher ( Wolwekop ) and Owen ( Zululand ). The Drège specimens housed in G-DC (Bar code G00321823 , e!) and P e! have the collector’s number 3774 and the locality is given as Klipplaatrivier .

Both De Candolle (1836) and Harvey (1865) quoted Burchell 1839, but according to a copy of Burchell’s collectors register, housed in the Mary Gunn Library, SANBI, Pretoria, Burchell 1839 is a Convolvulus sp. Hilliard (1977) correctly quoted Burchell 1832, noted as Chrysocoma in Burchell’s register. This specimen, housed in G-DC (Bar code G00321821, e!) was collected on 18 November 1811, presumably at Ten Springs. There is a gap in the localities in Burchell’s notes: Burchell 1792 to 1825 were collected at Janz Fonteyn between 16 and 18 November 1811. According to McKay (1943) they were collected at Grootfontein at the “Lower Spring”, near Campbell, Northern Cape. Burchell 1837 to 1881 were collected at Klaarwater (Griquatown, Northern Cape) on 1 December 1811. In Burchell’s register there is no locality noted for his specimens 1826 to 1836 but, according to McKay (1943), these numbers were collected at the “Upper Spring”, also near Campbell (Northern Cape). Burchell 2512, noted as Chrysocoma in his register, was collected on 16 December 1812 at Little Klibbolikhonni (grid reference 2723CD, Leistner & Morris 1976), near Kuruman, Northern Cape. Hutchinson (1946) reported the date of this collection as 14 December. To eliminate possible confusion, Burchell 2512 housed in G-DC is selected as lectotype.

Burchell 2706-3, noted as Chrysocoma in his collectors register, was collected on 7 March 1813 at Rainwater Station (3024AB, Leistner & Morris 1976) and according to McKay (1943) west of Philipstown, Northern Cape. On this specimen there are 2 annotations written in pencil: Leptothamnus ciliaris var.? (with a question mark) and Leptothamnus glaber Burch. It seems that this name was never published. It is unclear where the combination Nolletia glabra , associated with the image on JSTOR (2011), originated. Clearly Burchell already noticed glabrous specimens and this supports the sinking of N. ericoides as synonym under N. ciliaris by Merxmüller & Roessler (1984).

Stoebe sp. capitulis luteis Dinter (1927: 367): Dinter mistook this specimen as a possible new species of Stoebe in a list of specimens collected in South West Africa ( Namibia). Merxmüller (1967) realised it was a wrong identification and put the name in synonomy under N. ciliaris .

According to Phillips (1917), Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk (1962) and Jacot Guillarmod (1971) the leaves of N. ciliaris are smoked by the Southern Sotho for the relief of headaches and as a charm against witchcraft: the ash of the plant, mixed with goat fat, is burnt in the hut, the smoke being credited with the capacity for counteracting the evil. Wells et al. (1986) reported that this species could be troublesome because of competitiveness in grassland.

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 3. Light micrographs of cypsela surfaces of: (A) N. jeanettae illustrating the oblong epicarpic cells arranged in parallel rows after rehydration (Bester 8494, PRE); and (B) N. ruderalis (Vander Schijff 2041, PRE), higher magnification; (C) N. chrysocomoides showing the circular epicarpic cells after rehydration (Wiss 2553, PRE); (D) N. zambesica (Merxmüller 1966, PRE) showing the twin hairs arising from the apical part of the circular epicarpic cells after rehydration; (E) N. annetjieae after rehydration showing the paired circular to elliptic epicarpic cells scattered over the surface, each pair with one twin hair between them (Koekemoer 3901, PRE); (F) N. annetjieae showing the twin hairs arising from two (paired) circular epicarpic cells (Van Rooyen 3714, PRE). Scanning electron micrographs illustrating the different outer female florets of Nolletia species: (G) filiform female floret in N. ciliaris (Koekemoer 1062, PRE); (H) short ray in the outer female floret of N. gariepina (Jensen 208, PRE). Photographs by P.P.J. Herman.

FIGURE 7. Known geographical distribution of N. ciliaris (̝) and N. welmaniae (●). The grey triangle representing Ngamiland as there was no specific locality.