Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4521284 | South African Journal of Botany | 2010 | 13 Pages |
The taxonomy of the hitherto monotypic, fynbos-endemic genus Glia Sond. is revised, together with a re-consideration of its generic circumscription. Recent field work has revealed and clarified the existence of two new species, herein described as G. decidua B-E.van Wyk and G. pilulosa B-E.van Wyk. Both are summer-deciduous geophytes (growing at low elevations in clay or limestone) that are clearly related to the well-known G. prolifera (an evergreen pyrophyte found in sandy soils, mostly at higher elevations). The genus Glia differs from the closely related Anginon Raf. in the geophytic habit with a single, tuberous root (woody shrubs or shrublets in Anginon), the predominantly unbranched flowering stems arising from a short woody collar above the tuber (stems usually much-branched above ground level in Anginon), with basal rosettes of leaves (mature leaves cauline and crowded towards the branch ends in Anginon) and with cauline leaves (if present) strongly reduced in size (not reduced in Anginon). Furthermore, the leaves are sparsely and minutely hairy, at least along the margins or veins below (totally glabrous in Anginon) and the petioles have medullary vascular bundles (absent in Anginon except in seedlings or juvenile leaves). Anginon species are evergreen shrubs or shrublets with persistent leaves borne on woody branches but some of them (e.g. A. verticillata) may lose their leaves under extreme drought conditions in summer.