Topic
Anomatheca
About: Anomatheca is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4 publications have been published within this topic receiving 15 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: The relationships of Freesia and Anomatheca are explored and, as a result, some changes to the taxonomy of Ixieae are proposed.
Abstract: Anomatheca and Freesia, African genera of Iridaceae subfamily Ixioideae, are currently thought to be closely related, but until now the exact nature of their alliance has been difficult to determine. Cladistic analysis has provided one means of assessing their relationship. Using 25 characters found to be useful for phylogenetic analysis, including traditional morphological features as well as original data from pollen morphology, leaf anatomy, embryology, and seed development, Freesia appears to be monophyletic but nested in Anomatheca sect. Anomatheca, one of two sections of the genus. A second section, Xenoscapa, which includes one named species and a second one described here, comprises a well-supported clade that is probably only distantly related to Freesia plus sect. Anomatheca. We herein unite Anomatheca and Freesia, but under the later name Freesia. Because Freesia is already a conserved name and because it is a well-known and horticulturally important genus, Anomatheca has been formally rejected in favor of Freesia. We raise sect. Xenoscapa to generic rank and transfer A. fistulosa to it, describe the new species, X. uliginosa, and provide new combinations in Freesia for the species until now included in Anomatheca. Anomatheca Ker-Gawl. (1805), a tropical and southern African genus currently including five species, and Freesia Klatt (1863), a South African genus of 11 species, are closely related members of Ixieae, one of three tribes of the Old World and largely African subfamily Ixioideae (Goldblatt 1990, 1991) of the Iridaceae. Anomatheca was later treated as a subgenus of Lapeirousia Pouret by Baker (1896, 1898). Lewis (1954), however, disagreed with Baker's circumscription of Lapeirousia and suggested that Anomatheca might be better regarded as a separate genus, which she believed was most closely allied to Freesia. Lewis placed the two genera on the same branch of a phylogenetic tree some distance from Lapeirousia in subtribe Watsoniinae. Goldblatt (1971, 1972) also recognized Anomatheca and removed both it and Freesia from Watsoniinae and treated them as the sole genera of a subtribe Freesiinae. In this paper we explore the relationships of Freesia and Anomatheca and, as a result, propose some changes to the taxonomy of Ixieae. MATERIALS AND METHODS Taxa and Characters. Characters selected for inclusion in the analysis and their states and polarization are discussed in Appendix 1. Data for Anomatheca were largely taken from a study by Goldblatt (1972) and for Freesia from a revision by Goldblatt (1982). Data on leaf anatomy were obtained from work by Rudall and Goldblatt (1991) and supplemented by additional observations for species not known anatomically. Pollen characters, taken from a study by Goldblatt et al. (1990), were also supplemented by original observations presented in Table 1. Chromosome numbers were determined for the new species, confirmed for A. grandiflora Bak. and A. fistulosa (Spreng. ex Klatt) Goldblatt by M. Takei, and will be reported fully elsewhere (Goldblatt and Takei, in mss). Seed characters are taken from ongoing studies (Manning and Goldblatt unpubl. data) of seed development in Ixioideae.
13 citations
TL;DR: Comparisons with Lapeirousia, Anomatheca and other Ixioid Iridaceae lead to the conclusion that Savannosiphon is allied to LapeIRousia and to Thereianthus and Micranthus, and it should be placed with these genera in tribe Watsonieae.
Abstract: The central African species previously known as Lapeirousia euryphylla Harms is transferred to a new genus Savannosiphon. Comparisons of Savannosiphon with Lapeirousia, Anomatheca and other Ixioid Iridaceae lead to the conclusion that Savannosiphon is allied to Lapeirousia and to Thereianthus and Micranthus, and it should be placed with these genera in tribe Watsonieae. A chromosome number of n = 7 has been found in S. euryphyllus. It has been the impression of the authors for several years since we separately began systematic studies of Lapeirousia and Anomatheca (Goldblatt, 1972; Marais, unpubl.) that the fairly well-known tropical African Lapeirousia euryphylla Harms did not belong in Lapeirousia, nor did it seem to conform well with the related Anomatheca. This opinion was evidently shared by Diels (1930) who placed L. euryphylla in Acidanthera, a genus nomenclaturally synonymous with Gladiolus, though other species at times assigned to Acidanthera are now considered to belong to several other genera of Iridaceae-Ixioideae (Lewis, 1941). More recently, we have had the opportunity of growing this plant and close observation has strengthened the conviction that L. euryphylla is misplaced. Chromosome counts, made from cultivated material, have also lent some support for our view that L. euryphylla should be removed from Lapeirousia. We have consequently decided to describe the new genus Savannosiphon to accomodate
4 citations
TL;DR: Examination of additional specimens of the blue-flowered plants in preparation for a treatment of Iridaceae for Flora Zambesiaca indicates a need for their taxonomic recognition, and they are described here as subspecies azurea, a new subspecies of Anomatheca laxa.
Abstract: Populations until now treated as Anomatheca laxa that occur along the coast of northern Natal and southern Mozambique are referred to a new subspecies azurea. These plants differ in their pale blue perianth with dark blue to violet markings and in their generally smaller flowers with a fairly long perianth tube. Subspecies azurea flowers in the cool months, June to mid-September, and is restricted to sandy soils, unlike typical redto pink-flowered subspecies laxa, which flowers mainly from November to February, and is largely montane, favoring rocky sites. Whiteto pale blue-flowered plants with dark blue to violet or purple marks on the lower tepals currently included in Anomatheca laxa (Thunberg) Goldblatt, one of five species currently admitted to this tropical and southern African genus (Goldblatt, 1972, 1991), have long seemed awkwardly placed. Except for flower color, however, there seemed little to separate the whiteto pale blue-flowered individuals from typical A. laxa, which has pink to red flowers with dark red blotches at the bases of the three lower (anterior) tepals. Examination of additional specimens of the blue-flowered plants in preparation for a treatment of Iridaceae for Flora Zambesiaca (Goldblatt, in press) indicates a need for their taxonomic recognition, and they are described here as subspecies azurea. Typical Anomatheca laxa [Syn. Lapeirousia cruenta Lindley; Anomatheca cruenta (Lindley) Baker], extends from the Uitenhage District in the southeastern Cape (South Africa), probably the type locality, through eastern tropical Africa to Uganda and western Kenya (Fig. 1). The range is, however, discontinuous, and A. laxa evidently does not occur in Zimbabwe, central and northern Mozambique, or southern Malawi, although it is present in central and northern Zambia, Shaba Province (Zaire), and southern Tanzania. Further north it is restricted to the mountains of eastern and northern Uganda and western Kenya. Plants generally favor rocky sites in light shade in mountain areas, but in South Africa they occasionally occur close to sea level. Related, and the only other tropical member of the genus, A. grandifiora Baker, which extends from the Transvaal (South Africa) to southern Tanzania, occurs in light woodland and open savanna, habitats generally drier than those favored by A. laxa. In contrast to the wide geographic range of subspecies laxa, subspecies azurea is restricted to coastal habitats in southeastern Africa from Richards Bay, Natal, in the south to Massinga, Mozambique, in the north (Fig. 1). As far as we know, subspecies azurea always grows in coarse sand, either in exposed sites such as grassy dunes or sometimes in light shade. Also, unlike subspecies laxa these coastal plants only flower in the winter and early spring, June to September. Occasionally its flowering overlaps with that of subspecies laxa, which has been Figure 1. Distribution of Anomatheca laxa. Closed circles = subspecies laxa; broken line = subspecies azurea. NOVON 3: 145-147. 1993. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.60 on Thu, 21 Apr 2016 07:37:35 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
3 citations
1 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 1 |
| 1993 | 2 |
| 1979 | 1 |