Compilation
Dracaena aletriformis

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Name

Identification
Dracaena aletriformis (Haw.) Bos [family DRACAENACEAE ]
Related name
  • Dracaena aletriformis

Flora

Entry for Dracaena aletriformis [family DRACAENACEAE]
Herbarium
South African National Biodiversity Institute, Compton Herbarium, Cape Town (SAM)
Collection
Flora of Southern Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of South Africa, (2003) Author: Dr J.P. Roux
Names
Dracaena aletriformis [family DRACAENACEAE]
Common names
Yucca aletriformis Haw.: 415 (1831). Type: Cape, Uitenhage, Van Stadens River, Drege 4494a (K!, neo., G!, MO!, P!, pho­tocopies in PRE, WAG, here designated). Cordyline rumphii Hook. (nom. illeg.) p.p. quoad descr., excl. syn.: t. 4279 (1847). D. hookeriana K. Koch (nom. illeg.): 394 (1861); Bak.: 527 (1875); Bak.: 275 (1896); Wood: t. 277 (1902); Coates Palgrave: 86 (1977). D rumphii (Hook.) Regel excl. patria: 141 (1871). Draco hookeriana (K. Koch) Kuntze: 710 (1891). Pleomele hookeriana (K. Koch) N.E. Br.: 278 (1914). Type: Curtis's Botanical Magazine t. 4279 ( here designated). Dracaena latifolia Regel: 141 (1871); Saunders: t. 353 (1873). Type: Natal, Durban, Wood6572 (BM!, neo., E!, G!, PRC!, photocopies in PRE, WAG, here designated). D. transvaalensis Bak.: 1001 (1904). Type: Transvaal, Shilu-vane, Junod 1635 (G!, holo., Z!, photocopies in PRE, WAG). Sansevieria paniculata Schinz (nom. nud.): 141 (1892) based on: Cape, Port Alfred, Schoenland 290 (Z!). Misapplied name: Aletris fragrans L. (= Dracaena fragrans (L.) Ker-Gawl.) in Burm. f.: 10 (1768), vide Hutch.: 622 (1946), Bos: 75 (1984).
Information
Small tree, not always branched, usually not exceeding 5 m. Leaves congested towards top of stems, narrow to broadly strap-shaped, with short flaring sheaths, bright to greyish green with narrow conspicuous white cartilaginous edges, 0,5—1,0 m long, 25—110 mm wide. Inflorescence erect, up to well over 1 m long, green. Flowers 1—4 together, more numerous in terminal clusters, 25—35(—42) mm long, greenish white; pedicel bases 5—10 mm long; receptacles 2—3 (—8) mm long, up to 12 mm in fruit. Perianth lobes ± 1,5 times as long as tube. Fruits usually single-seeded and globose, lobed when 2- or 3-seeded, 7—19 mm in diameter, red or orange.
Habitat
Vegetatively distinct by its conspicuous white leaf edges, it is very variable in its leaf dimensions. Flower size may vary remarkably, even on the same plant in consecutive flowering periods. This has led to the distinction of several taxa that are, however, not tenable. It is likely that the non-flowering living type plant in Kew Gardens, received from Bowie in 1823, was the one depicted on Plate 4279 of Curtis's Botanical Magazine. Cultivated herbarium material at K that was collected two decennia later, may very well have been taken from the same plant. However, I preferred to neotypify the name with material that was collected at Van Stadens River, the locus classicus where Bowie must have obtained his plant.
Use
1. Dracaena aletriformis (Haw.) Bos, comb, nov.
Range
Distributed in Transvaal, Swaziland, Natal and the south­eastern Cape Province, also in Mozambique, Zanzibar and Kenya. Occasional in coastal bush and montane localities in Transvaal and Swaziland. Map 1.

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