Putterlickia neglecta Jordaan, R.G.C.Boon & A.E.van Wyk, 2015

Jordaan, Marie, Boon, Richard G. C. & Van Wyk, Abraham E., 2015, Putterlickia neglecta (Celastraceae), a new species from southern Africa, Phytotaxa 208 (3), pp. 217-224 : 219-223

Putterlickia neglecta Jordaan, R.G.C.Boon & A.E.van Wyk , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1A , 2A & 3 )

Putterlickia neglecta resembles P. verrucosa , but is easily distinguished from that species by the leaves being sessile to subsessile with leaf margin usually entire, rarely with scattered remnants of teeth (vs. leaves distinctively petiolate and margin spinulose-denticulate, up to 15 teeth on each side of midrib), pedicels 8–15 mm long (vs. shorter, up to 4 mm long), petals in freshly opened flowers markedly spreading to slightly recurved (vs. ± erect or slightly spreading), up to 6 mm long (vs. 1–2 mm long). It is also similar to P. pyracantha , but differs in stems having prominently raised lenticels (vs. obscure, sunken lenticels), leaf apex nearly always emarginate (vs. acute, rounded or truncate to emarginate), leaf margins mostly entire (vs. entire or spinulose-denticulate) and inflorescence axes as well as pedicels greenish (vs. reddish).

Type: — SOUTH AFRICA. KwaZulu-Natal: Sibayi, 2732 BC, 2 December 1994, R. A.Lubbe 500 (holotype PRU 78273!, isotype K!).

Evergreen straggling shrub or small tree up to 5 m tall, multi-stemmed, stems to 75 mm diameter at the base. Branchlets angular when young, becoming terete with age; young stems greyish purple, red-brown becoming grey, usually covered with conspicuous pale, raised, wart-like lenticels, sometimes with stem galls. Thorns axillary, up to 60(–110) mm long, straight, but occasionally slightly reflexed on old stems, usually covered with prominent lenticels, sometimes bearing leaves, flowers and fruit. Brachyblasts sometimes well-developed, up to 6 mm long. Leaves fasciculate, conspicuously discolourous, mid to dark dull green with a slight bluish tinge above, much paler green and tinged bluish below, bronze-red when young, subsessile; lamina obovate to oblanceolate, (6–)20–70 × 6–30 mm, apex emarginate, base tapering into very short petiole or petiole absent, margin often entire, less frequently with sparse, scattered serrations, revolute, slightly undulate, midrib and reticulate venation prominently raised on both sides when dry. Inflorescence axillary, cymose, usually much longer than leaves; peduncle up to 25 mm long; pedicels 10–14 mm long. Flowers bisexual, 5-merous, white, cream to pale green, ± 10 mm in diam. Sepals green, triangular, ± 2 mm long. Petals widely spreading to somewhat recurved, oblong, 2–4(–6) × ± 2.5 mm, apex rounded, margin entire. Disc broad, round, green to pinkish red, margin crenate. Stamens free, slightly shorter than petals. Ovary 3-locular; ovules 6–12 per locule; style ± 1.75 mm long, stigma 3-lobed. Fruit a dry 3-valved capsule, dehiscing loculicidally to base; capsules cream to pink or red, obconic-trigonous, smooth, 15–20(–32) mm long. Seeds oblong, cream, 6–10 mm long, completely enveloped by a well-developed, fleshy orange aril.

Phenology: —Flowers were recorded from October to March. Fruits are encountered on plants all year round.

Etymology: —The specific epithet refers to the fact that this species has for a long time been overlooked as a distinct species.

Distribution and habitat: — Putterlickia neglecta occurs in north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal, from False Bay Park along the coast northwards to Maputo ( Mozambique) and inland through the Lowveld in north-eastern and central Swaziland ( Loffler & Loffler 2005: 59) to Mpumalanga (few localities for this province represented as herbarium sheets, notably from Shabin Kop and Numbi in the Kruger National Park) and sight records from the Barberton Mountainlands Nature Reserve (iSpot 2015) and Malelane ( Schmidt et al. 2002: 363) ( Fig. 4 ). The species is therefore considered a near-endemic to the Maputaland Centre of Endemism ( Van Wyk & Smith 2001). It grows in mixed bushveld (savanna), inland, coastal and dune forests, thicket and riverine vegetation, often on sandy soil.

Conservation: — Putterlickia neglecta occurs within the Kruger National Park and a number of protected areas managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. For most of its range it occurs outside protected areas, but is still fairly common in South Africa and Swaziland where it is considered Least Concern (LC) ( IUCN 2012). However, its status in southern Mozambique is unknown as it was last collected there in 1920.

Common names: —The proposed common names for this plant are northern false-spikethorn and noordelike valspendoring (Afrikaans).

Notes: —The more prominent geographical and morphological features to differentiate among the five species of Putterlickia are summarized in Table 1. Although P. neglecta is geographically more closely associated with P. verrucosa , its relatively large flowers with spreading petal are reminiscent of P. pyracantha , a species which occurs much further south. Putterlickia pyracantha occurs on littoral sand dunes in fynbos and scrub along the south-western Cape coast, from the Vredenburg-Saldanha area, to as far north-east at Tsitsa Falls in the Eastern Cape. Putterlickia verrucosa grows from East London to Port St Johns, is replaced by P. retrospinosa in the sandstone region of southern KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape ( Van Wyk & Smith 2001; Pondoland Centre of Endemism), and reappears from Port Shepstone further north along the coast to St Lucia, extending inland up the Umgeni, Tugela and Mhlatuze River Valleys. Putterlickia neglecta replaces P. verrucosa from St Lucia northwards, just entering the southern parts of the Kruger National Park, Mpumalanga (see “Distribution and habitat” above); it is the member of the genus with the most northerly distribution. Putterlickia saxatilis is an easily recognized species with an outlier distribution in the Northern Cape where it is endemic to the Griqualand West Centre of Endemism ( Van Wyk & Smith 2001).

Additional collections (paratypes): — MOZAMBIQUE. Maputo [ Lourenço Marques ], 18 Jan. 1920, J. Borle 264 ( PRE) . SWAZILAND. Mlawula Nature Reserve , ravine below Blue Jay cottage, 16 Sep. 1987, R. D. Alward 190 ( PRE) ; E bank of Mkhondo / Assegai River , 30 Aug. 1978, J. Prior 200 ( PRE) ; 20 km S of Sidvokodvo towards Grand Valley , 11 Apr. 1976, E. J. van Jaarsveld 1189 ( PRE) ; 1 km to the S of the Komati River , A. de Castro & M. Brits 362 ( PRE) . SOUTH AFRICA. Mpumalanga: Kruger National Park, Shabin Kop, near Pretorius Kop , 10 May 1950, L. E. Codd 6063 ( PRE), 19 Aug. 1952, H. P. van der Schijff 663 ( PRE) ; Numbi , 15 Jan. 1954, H. P. van der Schijff 3440 ( PRE) ; Lekasi Bantu Town, 20 May 1974, J. P. Nel 384 ( PRE). KwaZulu-Natal: Lake Sibayi , 10 Mar. 1977, A. Balsinhas 3190 ( PRE), 13 Apr. 1966, E. J. Moll 3174 ( PRE), 14 June 1996, Felton & Thornhill 61 ( PRU), 15 Nov. 1995, R. A. Lubbe 734 ( PRU) ; Ingwavuma District, slopes facing Lake Nhlange , 9 Nov. 1958, K. L. Tinley 382 ( NH, PRE) ; Ingwavuma District , 27°14’S 32°46’E, 4 Jan. 1987, M. C. Ward 1826 ( PRE) ; Gunamanini Pan, Pongola flood plain, 20 June 1972, J. Stephen 821 ( PRE) ; Mavilo Hill, Pongola floodplain, 4 Nov. 1969, E. J. Moll 4267 ( NH, PRE) ; Mkuzi Game Reserve, Mpilo , 19 May 1984, P. S. Goodman 1157 ( NH) ; near Mkuze Game Reserve, slopes of Lebombo range, 20 Nov. 1979, A. Balsinhas 3067 ( PRE) ; ± 5 km from Makani’s Pont on road to Ndumu , 10 Feb. 1979, A. E. van Wyk 2504 ( PRE, PRU) ; road from Bhangazi Lake to beach to Sodwana Bay , 18 May 1985, M. Jordaan 512 ( NH, PRE) ; Sodwana Bay , 26 Mar. 1965, J. Vahrmeijer 648 ( PRE), 27 Nov. 1967, R. G. Strey & E. J. Moll 3953 ( NH) ; between Sodwana Bay and Lake Sibayi , on the road to Driftsand Beach, 25 Apr. 1984, C. N. Buthelezi 458 ( NH) ; Near Manzengwenya Inspection Quarters , 29 Nov. 1969, E. J. Moll 4851 ( NH) ; Manzengwenya Plantation , 10 Dec. 1964, J. Vahrmeijer & H. R. Tölken 242 ( NH) ; Ubombo , 11 Nov. 1984, G. Nichols & R. Wise 815 ( NH) ; Dune forest 6 km N of Cape Vidal, 10 Nov. 1985, K. MacDevette 356 ( NH) ; Mpangazi Lake , 9 Jan. 1964, R. G. Strey 5035 ( NH) ; Sileza Forest , 27°05’S 32°36’E, 14 Feb. 1986, M. C. Ward 1361 ( NH) ; Eastern Shores of Lake Sibayi, 23 Feb. 1971, E. J. Moll 5210 ( NH), 27°23’S 32°42’E, 22 Nov. 1988, M. C. Ward 2402 ( NH) ; Sibaya [Sibayi], 28 Nov. 1967, R. G. Strey & E. J. Moll 3984 ( NH) ; False Bay Park, January 1982, D. Lawson 156 ( NH), 9 July 1961, C. J. Ward 3663 ( NH), 28 June 1971, C. J. Ward 7121 ( NH, PRE) ; 29 Nov. 1965, E. J. Moll 2828 ( PRE) ; False Bay Park, 27°57’58.85”S 32°22’45.08”E, 12 Jan. 2014, R. Boon 59 ( NH) ; False Bay Park, 27°58’32.52”S 32°21’49.28”E, 30 Apr. 2014, R. Boon 64 ( NH) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Young stem with lenticels. A. Putterlickia neglecta. B. Gymnosporia nemorosa. Scale bar: A = 1.0 mm, B = 0.25 mm. Photographs:A.E. van Wyk.

FIGURE 2. Flowers. A. Putterlickia neglecta. B. Putterlickia verrucosa. Scale bar = 4 mm. Photographs: A.E. van Wyk.

FIGURE 3. Putterlickia neglecta. A. Flowering branchlet; B. Flower; C. Dehisced capsule showing seed; D. Seed completely enveloped by aril left; with aril removed right. E. Capsules; stem with lenticels and thorn. F. Stem with galls. Scale bar = 10 mm. A, B & F from Jordaan 4317, C from Lubbe 500 and D from Felton & Thornhill 61. Artist: Daleen Roodt.

FIGURE 4. Map of southern Africa showing the known distribution of Putterlickia neglecta.