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Two New Taxa of Solanecio (Compositae : Senecioneae) from Ethiopia
Author(s): Mesfin Tadesse
Source:
Kew Bulletin
, Vol. 49, No. 1 (1993), pp. 137-141
Published by: Springer on behalf of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4110210
Accessed: 05-08-2016 16:52 UTC
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Two new taxa of Solanecio (Compositae: Senecioneae)
from Ethiopia
MESFIN TADESSE*
Summary. Solanecio harennensis Mesfin and Solanecio tuberosus Sch. Bip. ex A. Rich. var. pubescens
Mesfin are described from the highlands of Ethiopia. A key to the species of Solanecio found in
Ethiopia is also provided.
INTRODUCTION
The name Solanecio (Sch. Bip.) Walp. was brought into use by Schultz Bipontinus
(1842: 441) to accommodate Schimper's "zwei arten [referring to Schimper 1361
and 1610; both = Solanecio tuberosus (Sch. Bip. ex A. Rich.) C. Jeffrey] mit
knolliger Wurzel vielleicht zur Culture geeignet, ausserdem ausgezeichnet durch
ein sehr verliingertes Nectarium, sehr behaarte Achaenen, 5 bliithiges Capitulum,
etc." and was given subgeneric status within Senecio L. Later, Walpers (1846-47:
273) raised this to generic rank and briefly described it as "radix tuberosa edulis?,
nectaria valde elongata, achaenia pilosissima, capitula quinqueflora,-Herbae
Abyssinicae." But this treatment was not accepted by Bentham (1873), Oliver &
Hiern (1877), or O. Hoffmann (1897), who tacitly indicated Solanecio to be
synonymous with Senecio, as did other later workers on either the African com-
posite flora (e.g. Humbert & Staner 1936; Robyns 1947; Adams 1963; Maquet
1985), or the Senecioneae (e.g. Nordenstam 1978), until it was re-elevated to
generic rank by Jeffrey (1986). In his key to the Senecioneae in east tropical Africa,
Jeffrey (1986: 876) distinguished the two genera on characteristics of the ovary
wall crystals. This distinction has been accepted by Lisowski (1991). Solanecio,
with about 16 to 17 species, is confined to tropical Africa, Yemen and Madagascar.
During work on the composite flora of Ethiopia, two new taxa of Solanecio were
discovered and these are described below. The new taxa can be differentiated
from the others occuring in Ethiopia as follows:
KEY TO THE ETHIOPIAN SPECIES OF SOLANECIO
1. Large shrubs or small trees ...................................... 2
Scandent perennial herbs, climbers or epiphytes ..................... 3
2. Leaves large, often up to 50 x 20 cm, usually densely floccose-tomentose
below, greyish green, margins sinuate-lacerate or lobulate ..... S. gigas
Leaves up to 30 x 10 cm, glabrous or thinly floccose below, dark green,
margins regularly serrate, coarsely sinuate-denticulate or sinuate-serrate
..................................................... S. m annii
Accepted for publication June 1993.
*The Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, PO Box 3434, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
137
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138 KEW BULLETIN VOL. 49 ( 1)
Fi;. 1. Solanecio harennensis. A habit x /3; B lower portion of stem with roots x Y3; C capitulum, post anthesis
x 3; D calyculi with marginal hairs x 10; E phyllary x 10; F floret with pappus x 6; G floret without pappus
and ovary x 6; H apical portion of stamen (1 of 5 shown in detail) x 18; J upper part of style with bifid
branches x 28; K style branches, much enlarged to show penicillate apex and linear stigmatic surface. All from
Friis, Gilbert & Vollesen 3546 (K). Drawn by Pat Halliday.
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TWO NEW SOLANECIO (COMPOSITAE) FROM ETHIOPIA 139
3. Erect tuberous-rooted terrestrial herbs or epiphytes ................... 4
Scandent perennial herbs or climbers ............................... 6
4. Epiphytes; flowers white ............................. S. harennensis
Erect, tuberous-rooted terrestrial herbs; flowers yellow or orange ....... 5
5. Leaves glabrous or glabrescent; flowers bright yellow ....... S. tuberosus
Leaves densely hairy; flowers bright-orange . S. tuberosus var. pubescens
6. Leaves mostly lyrato-pinnately lobed, glabrous or almost so . S. angulatus
Leaves all or mostly not lyrato-pinnately lobed or, if so, then floccose-tomentose
beneath at least when young ......................... S. nandensis
S. harennensis Mesfin sp. nov. S. kanzibiensis (Humbert & Staner) C. Jeffrey
similis sed foliis usque ad 3 - 5 cm latis margine grosse serratis, involucris 10- 11 mm
longis et 4-5 mm latis, calyculi bracteis ad marginem ciliatis differt. Typus:
Ethiopia, Bale 31 km on Dello Menna-Goba road, 1850 m, 27 Oct. 1984, Friis,
Gilbert & Vollesen 3546 (holotypus ETH, isotypi C, K). Fig. 1.
Epiphyte with trailing branches up to 30 cm long; stem rooting in lower parts.
Leaves alternate, simple, petiolate; lamina up to 8 x 3 -5 cm, glabrous, purplish
beneath, membranous, margins grossly serrate-dentate; petiole up to 4"5 cm
long, thin. Capitula oblong-campanulate in open subumbellate cymes, ?discoid,
(8-)10-11 x 2-4 mm, up to 12-5 x 5 mm in fruit; pedicel up to 2-5 cm long,
glabrous. Receptacle hairy on outside. Calyculi filiform, 5-6, continuous with
bracts on peduncle, c. 1-2-5 x 0-5 mm, ciliate on margins, dark purple.
Phyllaries uniseriate, 8- 12, glabrous except for purplish cilia at apices, 10- 11 x
1 mm, linear-oblong, purple at base, light green in the remaining parts. Florets
10-18, c. 10-5-11-5 mm long. Corolla tubular, white, c. 8-8-2 x 1 mm,
glabrous, 5-lobed, lobes papillose, c. 0 -7- 1 mm long. Anthers 0 -75- 1 -2 mm
long, base obtuse, connective 0- 3-0-6 mm long, collar c. 0- 5-0-6 mm long,
broader near joint with filament. Style c. 9 mm long, exserted at anthesis, swollen
at base and slightly widened below the branches, bifid at apex; branches yellow,
0 - 5-1 mm long, densely papillose on outside toward the penicillate apex, stig-
matic surfaces along margins, not confluent at apex. Ovary glabrous, light to
dark brown, cylindric. Immature cypsela dark brown, glabrous, costate, c.
2 x 0 - 5 mm. Pappus of uniseriate, white, 7 - 8 - 8 mm long, uniformly barbellate
setae.
HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION. Middle to high level epiphyte on Syzygium in
mixed wet forest with Schefflera abyssinica, Lepidotrichilia volkensii, Syzygium guineense
subsp. afromontanum, Bersama abyssinica, Ocotea kenyensis, etc., at 1850 m in the
Harenna forest in Bale, south-eastern Ethiopia.
S. harennensis, a rare plant which is known only from the type collections, was
compared with the other three epiphytic species of Solanecio known from central
and eastern Africa. These are S. mirabilis (Muschl.) C. Jeffrey and S. epidendricus
(Mattf.) C. Jeffrey from Tanzania and S. kanzibiensis from Uganda, Rwanda,
Zaire and Bioko (= Fernando Po). As indicated in Table 1, S. harennensis differs
from these species in a number of characteristics, notably those of leaf and
capitular features. Repeated attempts were made between 1987 and 1989 to
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140 KEW BULLETIN VOL. 49 (1)
TABLE 1. Comparison between S. harennensis and morphologically related taxa
Characters S. harennensis S. mirabilis S. epidendricus S. kanzibiensis
1. Leaf:
- width (cm) up to 3-5 up to 2"5 up to 2-0 up to 1-5
- margin grossly serrate entire entire entire
2. Involucre (fruiting, mm):
- length 10-11 6-6-5 7-7-5 6-5-7
- width 4-5 1-5-2 3-4 2-2-5
3. Calyculi:
- pubescence ciliate at margins glabrous ciliate at apex glabrous
- length x width 2 x 0-5 1-5 x 0-6 1-5-2 x 0-5 1-1-5 x 0-3
4. Phyllary no. 8-12 5-6 8
5. Corolla colour white yellow pale yellow yellow
6. Cypsela:
- length (mm) c. 2 2-8-3 2-5-2-8
- pubescence glabrous glabrous glabrous
7. Pappus:
- length (mm) 7-8-8 5-2-5-5 3-8-4 c. 4
gather more specimens of the species in the type locality, but without success.
S. tuberosus (Sch. Bip. ex A. Rich.) C. Jeffrey var. pubescens Mesfin, var. nov.
a varietate typica foliis pedicellisque dense pubescentibus, floribus aurantiacis
differt. Typus: Ethiopia, Shewa, Woliso, 26 May 1973, Ash 1948 (holotypus, K).
Tuberous perennial, usually growing in groups; tuber c. 7 cm wide, irregularly
flattened-globose. Stems several from each tuber, up to 60 cm tall, reddish-violet
at the base. Basal leaves elliptic, ovate-elliptic or spathulate, up to 23 x 8 cm,
fleshy, densely pubescent, margins grossly dentate, sessile or petiolate, petiole
with decurrent leaf base, up to 7 cm long. Upper leaves ovate, sessile. Capitula
oblong, on up to 10 mm long, slender, densely pilose pedicels, in dense sub-
umbelliform cymes. Receptacle pilose on outside. Calyculi filiform, 2-3, pilose.
Involucre 6- 9 x 1 - 5- 2 5 mm; phyllaries 5-6, linear-oblong, pubescent, brown
in fruit. Florets c. 20; corolla tubular, bright orange. Cypsela light brown,
costate, oblong-elliptic, 4 - 4 - 5 x 1 - 1 -5 mm, densely strigose, hairs silky-white.
Pappus of uniseriate, white, c. 4 -5 mm long, uniformly barbellate setae.
HABITAT. Open short grassland with volcanic boulders, deciduous woodland
with grass, steep mountain slopes with outcrops of marble; alt. 1600-2300 m.
SPECIMENS EXAMINED. Ethiopia: Shewa, Wegedi, 26 June 1983, Gilbert,
Edwards, Tewolde & Vollesen 8043 (K, UPS); Aje, Senkele, 23 July 1984, Fekadu
Kassaye 77 (ETH); 175 km on Addis-Jimma road, 19 June 1971, Ash 976 (K);
Debre Libanos, 11 May 1965, Lemma G. Selassie 784 (ETH); Guder, 11 May
1964, Lemma G. Selassie 163 (ETH); Bole gorge, 27 May 1973, Sandford in Ash
1950 (K), 18 May 1975, Ash 2968 (K); Ghion, 26 May 1973, Ash 1948 (K).
?Gamo Gofa, Omo valley, July 1958, Hildebrandt 110 (ETH).
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TWO NEW SOLANECIO (COMPOSITAE) FROM ETHIOPIA 141
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Financial support from SAREC (Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation
with Developing Countries) through the Ethiopian Flora Project is gratefully
acknowledged. My thanks are also due to the directors and curators of the
herbaria mentioned.
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