Chortolirion angolense

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Chortolirion angolense
Systematics
Monocots
Order : Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family : Grass trees (Xanthorrhoeaceae)
Subfamily : Affodilla family (Asphodeloideae)
Genre : Chortolirion
Type : Chortolirion angolense
Scientific name of the  genus
Chortolirion
A. Berger
Scientific name of the  species
Chortolirion angolense
( Baker ) A. Berger

Chortolirion angolense is the only plant species of the monotypic genus Chortolirion from the subfamily of the Affodil family (Asphodeloideae). The botanical name of the genus is derived from the Greek words chortos for 'pasture' and lirion for 'lily' and refers to the distribution in grasslands. The specific epithet angolense refers to the occurrence of the species in Angola .

description

Vegetative characteristics

Chortolirion angolense is an herbaceous , stemless, perennial plant. The leaves arise from a short, underground stub. Their roots are spindle-shaped and fleshy. The egg-shaped, elongated onion consists of slightly fleshy leaf bases. It is 3 to 4 inches long and 2 inches wide.

The slightly succulent leaves form rosettes , are grass-like, limp and usually twisted once or twice. They are light green, about 15 centimeters long and about 2 millimeters in diameter. The leaf margins are serrated. The top 5 to 10 millimeters at the tips of the leaves are often dry.

Inflorescences and flowers

The inflorescence is a simple panicle about 36 centimeters long . The lower sterile parts are covered with bracts. The flowers are erect and zygomorphic . The greenish, brownish or pinkish white tepals have a greenish keel. They are bluntly rounded at their base. The bud is bent back and has a pinkish red tip. The short flower stalks are erect and persistent. The flower tube has a length of 14 millimeters and measures about 2 millimeters in diameter. The tepals that have grown together at their base stick together for two thirds of their length. The six stamens attach to the base of the tepal tube and are about 7 millimeters long. Their white stamens taper towards the tip. The yellow, dorsifix anthers tear open lengthways and are intrors. The green, sitting ovary is 3 millimeters long and has a diameter of 2 millimeters. The 4 millimeter long stylus is white, straight and head-shaped.

Fruits and seeds

The fruits are cylindrical, triple, loculicidal capsule fruits , the tip of which is pointed. They are about 15 millimeters long and reach a diameter of 5 to 6 millimeters. The capsule fruits contain angular, dark brown to black, short-winged seeds about 3 millimeters long.

Systematics and distribution

Chortolirion angolense is distributed in the south of Angola , in Zimbabwe , Namibia , Botswana , South Africa and Lesotho inland above the Great Escarpment in loose to dense grassland at altitudes of up to 2000 meters.

The first description as Haworthia angolensis by John Gilbert Baker was published in 1878. In 1908, Alwin Berger established the genus Chortolirion for this and three other Haworthia species .

The clear morphological differences compared to the genus Haworthia relate primarily to the underground, onion-like rhizome and the tapered, pointed capsule fruits. Chortolirion angolense is also the only Haworthia-like species whose leaves move in and die back to the surface of the earth after a fire or a period of frost.

Synonyms are Haworthia tenuifolia Engler (1888), Chortolirion tenuifolium (Engler) A. Berger (1908), Haworthia stenophylla Engler (1891), Chortolirion stenophyllum (Engler) A.Berger (1908), Haworthia saundersiae . Baker (1891, nom. Nud.), Haworthia subspicata Baker (1904), Chortolirion subspicatum (Baker) A. Berger (1908) and Chortolirion bergerianum Dinter (1914).

× Gastrolirion orpetii E.Walther (1933, nom. Inval.) Is a hybrid between a Gasteria -type and tenuifolium Chortolirion . Hybrids between Aloe and Chortolirion be × Alolirion G.D.Rowley called.

Botanical history

Gideon Francois Smith examined the taxonomic history of the genus in 1991. Together with Abraham Erasmus van Wyk , he showed that the separation from the genus Haworthia is justified. In 1995 Smith referred the species described up to this point in the synonymy of Chortolirion angolense .

In 2007, Georg PJ Fritz spoke out in favor of the recognition of Chortolirion tenuifolium as an independent species. Together with Bernardus Joannes Maria Zonneveld , he described the new species Chortolirion latifolium in 2010 . As an important argument for differentiating between three species, Fritz cites the time of flowering . Chortolirion angolense flowers in spring, Chortolirion latifolium in summer and Chortolirion tenuifolium in autumn.

On the basis of more recent phylogenetic studies, Olwen Megan Grace and co-workers proposed the three species as Aloe welwitschii Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. (Syn: Chortolirion angolense ), Aloe barendii Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. (Syn: Chortolirion tenuifolium ) and Aloe jeppeae Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. (Syn: Chortolirion latifolium ) in the genus Aloe .

proof

literature

  • Gideon Francois Smith: Chortolirion . In: Urs Eggli (Hrsg.): Succulent lexicon. Monocotyledons . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3662-7 , pp. 196-197 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-05597-3 , p. 46.
  2. ↑ Urs Eggli, Leonard E. Newton: Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names . Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-642-05597-3 , p. 10.
  3. ↑ a b c d Urs Eggli (Hrsg.): Sukkulenten-Lexikon. Monocotyledons . Pp. 196-197.
  4. ^ John Gilbert Baker: Report on the Liliaceæ, Iridaceæ, Hypoxidaceæ, and Hæmodoraceæ of Welwitsch's Angolan Herbarium . In: Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. Botany . Volume 1, Number 5, London 1878, p. 263 ( online ).
  5. ↑ Alwin Berger: Liliaceae-Asphodeloideae-Aloineae . In: Adolf Engler (ed.): The plant kingdom. Regni vegetablilis conspectus . Issue 33, Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1908, pp. 72-74 (online) .
  6. ↑ Gideon F. Smith: Historical review of the taxonomy of Chortolirion Berger (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae) . In: Aloe . Volume 28, Numbers 3-4, 1991, pp. 90-94.
  7. ^ Gideon F. Smith, Abraham E. van Wyk: The Generic Status of Chortolirion (Aloaceae): Evidence from Leaf Anatomy . In: Kew Bulletin . Volume 48, Number 1, 1993, pp. 105-113 ( JSTOR 4115752 ).
  8. ↑ Gideon F. Smith: FSA Contributions 2: Asphodelaceae / Aloaceae, 1029010 Chortolirion . In: Bothalia . Volume 25, 1995, pp. 31-33. ( PDF )
  9. ^ Georg PJ Fritz: Two distinctive forms of Chortolirion angolense (Baker) A. Berger from Heidelberg, Gauteng . In: Aloe . Volume 44, Number 1, 2007, pp. 10-13.
  10. ^ Bernardus J. M Zonneveld, Georg PJ Fritz: Three species accepted in Chortolirion Berger (Xanthorrhoeaceae: Asphodeloideae) . In: Bradleya . Volume 28, 2010, pp. 27-36.
  11. ^ Georg PJ Fritz: Review of the three species accepted in Chortolirion A. Berger (Xanthorrhoeaceae: Asphodeloideae) . In: Aloe . Volume 49, number 1, 2012, pp. 4–10 ( PDF ).
  12. ↑ Olwen Megan Grace, Ronell R. Klopper, Gideon F. Smith, Neil R. Crouch, Estrela Figueiredo, Nina Ronsted, Abraham E. van Wyk: A revised generic classification for Aloe (Xanthorrhoeaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae) . In: Phytotaxa . Volume 76, number 1, 2013, pp. 7-14 ( doi: 10.11646 / phytotaxa.76.1.1 ).

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