Compilation
Romulea columnae

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Name

Identification
Romulea columnae Sebast. & Mauri [family IRIDACEAE ] (stored under name);
Related name
  • Romulea ramiflora
  • Romulea coronata
  • Romulea linaresii
  • Romulea cyrenaica
  • Romulea basileleonis
  • Trichonema columnae
  • Romulea columnae
  • Ixia minima
  • Romulea parlatorei
  • Trichonema coronatum

Flora

Entry for ROMULEA fischeri Pax [family IRIDACEAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
Flora of Tropical East Africa, page 1, (1996) Author: Peter Goldblatt
Names
ROMULEA fischeri Pax [family IRIDACEAE], in E.J. 15: 150 (1892); Baker in F.T.A. 7: 345 (1898); Bullock in K.B. 1933: 100 (1933); W.F.K.: 125 (1948); A.V.P.: 65 (1957); Blundell, Wild Fl. E. Afr.: 429, fig. 712 (1987); U.K.W.F., ed. 2: 323, t. 150 (1994). Type: Kenya, Aberdare Mts., Abori, Fischer 587 (B, holo.)
Ixia bulbocodium [family IRIDACEAE], sensu A. Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 2: 308 (1850), non L.
Romulea ramiflora [family IRIDACEAE], sensu Baker in F.T.A. 7: 345 (1898); W.F.K.: 125 (1948), non Ten. (1832)
Romulea linaresii Bég. subsp. abyssinica [family IRIDACEAE], E.J. 38: 326 (1907); Cufod., E.P.A.: 1585 (1972). Type: Gonder, Simien, Mt. Bachit, 3 August 1838, Schimper 550 (B, holo.!, K, P, iso.!)
Romulea columnae [family IRIDACEAE], sensu Cufod. in E.P.A.: 1585 (1972), non Sebast. & Mauri (1818)
Romulea campanuloides [family IRIDACEAE], sensu Cufod. in E.P.A.: 1584 (1972), non Harms (1894)
Information
Plants (1-)7-12 cm. high excluding the leaves. Corm globose, tapering below to an oblique rounded base, 7-10 mm. in diameter, tunics woody or cartilaginous, red-brown. Foliage leaves (2-)3-5, mostly 8-15 mm. long, oblong in transverse section (when dried appearing plane), the midrib lightly raised, and with a narrow central hyaline ridge, usually straight and erect (falcate to spreading on the ground in depauperate plants), ± 1 mm. in diameter. Flowering stems 1-4 per plant, ± erect, becoming slightly falcate after anthesis, 0.6-1 mm. in diameter; outer bracts green, usually with narrow membranous margins, the inner bracts with broad scarious margins streaked with brown, 1.2-1.8 cm. long, as long or slightly shorter than the outer. Flowers blue, purple or violet, occasionally almost white, yellow in the centre, the tepals with bands of darker pigment over the 3 main veins, particularly so on the reverse; perianth-tube 4-5 mm. long; tepals lanceolate, erect below, curving outwards above, 10-16 × 3-4 mm. Filaments ± 3-4 mm. long, erect, free, exserted ± 1 mm. from the wide part of the tube; anthers ± 3 mm. long. Ovary ovoid, ± 3 mm. long; style dividing between the upper third and apex of the anthers, the branches ± 1.5 mm. long, usually arching outward shortly above the anther-apices, occasionally exceeding the anthers by 2-3 mm. Capsules ovoid-oblong, 7-10 mm. long.
Range
DISTR. U 1, 3; K 1-4, 6;
Altitude range
2700-4200 m.
Distribution
UGANDA Karamoja District summit of Mt. Debasien, 30 May 1939, A.S. Thomas 2926!;UGANDA Elgon, 22 Oct. 1916, Snowden 470!KENYA Elgeyo District Cherangani Hills, Kipsait, 6 Aug. 1968, Thulin & Tidigs 110!; N.KENYA N. Nyeri District Aberdare Mts., E. slope on Wanderers Track, 8 Oct. 1967, Hedberg 4277!;KENYA Masai District Enesambulia valley, 29 June 1969, Greenway & Kanuri 13659!
Distribution (external)
Saudi Arabia
Ethiopia
Eritrea
Somalia
Notes
Closely related to the eastern and southern African R. camerooniana and difficult to distinguish from that SPECIES, which has the inner bracts entirely green or with narrow membranous margins and a corm which tapers to a blunt point below. Flower size is variable and some plants have the flowers with tepals 1.2-1.6 cm. long (closely matching the type). In depauperate plants, especially from northern Ethiopia, plants have flowers with tepals only 1-1.2 cm. long.

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