Lachenalia arenicola (Asparagaceae: Scilloideae), a new species from western South Africa

Abstract

Lachenalia Jacquin in Murray (1784: 314) is a deciduous, geophytic genus endemic to western, southern, southeastern and central South Africa and to western and southern Namibia (Duncan et al. 2005). All South African members produce leaves in the winter, including those from essentially summer-rainfall areas, and L. pearsonii (Glover 1915: 105) Barker (1969: 321) from southern Namibia is the only summer-growing species (Duncan & Condy 2013). Flower and seed characters are most important for identification of Lachenalia, especially perianth shape including the perianth tube shape and length, relative position of outer and inner tepals, stamen orientation, seed shape and strophiole length. A recent monograph of Lachenalia provided a new classification for the genus based on a phylogenetic study of morphological characters and recognized 133 species (Duncan 2012). Living material of a new species from the Namaqualand coastal plain became available for study in 2013, although pressed specimens were first gathered in 2006. The total number of species for the genus now stands at 134.