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Aeollanthus buchnerianus [family LAMIACEAE]

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
Aeollanthus buchnerianus [family LAMIACEAE]
Common names
A. njassae Gurke in Engl., Pflanzenw. Ost-Afr. C: 346 (1895); Bak., I.e. 393 (1900); Hedge in Notes R. bot. Gdn Edinb. 32: 45 (1972). Type: Malawi, Shire highlands, Buchanan 529 (B, syn.t; K, lecto., fide Ryding). A. canescens Gurke in Bot. Jb. 22: 147 (1895); Cooke in F.C. 5,1: 294 (1910); Phillips in Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 16: 241 (1917); Launert & Schreiber in F.S.W.A. 123: 8 (1969); Ross, Fl. Natal 304 (1972); Jacot Guill., Fl. Lesotho 239 (1972). Type: Cape, Graaff-Reinet, Bolus sub Herb. Norm. Austr. Afr. 1345 (B, syn.t; K, lecto., fide Ryding). A. nyikensis Bak. in Kew Bull. 1898: 160 (1898); in F.T.A. 5: 392 (1900). Type: Malawi, Nyika Plateau, Whyte 119 (K, hole). Plectranthus volkmannae Dinter in Feddes Reprium Beih. 53: 124 (1928), nom. nud. P. rupicola Dinter ex Goossens in Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Afr. 21: 252 (1933), nom. nud. Specimen cited Dinter 5514.
Information
Perennial semisucculent herb or soft shrub 0,15—0,5 m tall; stems erect or spreading, subglabrous to greyish velvety, often with scattered longish hairs. Leaves petiolate; blade ovate to broadly ovate, 20-45 (-60) x 18-40 (-50) mm, subglab­rous to shortly pubescent, apex obtuse to rounded, base truncate, often decurrent on the petiole, margin crenate-dentate; petiole 15—40 mm long. Inflorescence fairly dense; flowers alternately single and in pairs; bracts broadly ovate, overlapping, 3—4 x 2,5—3,5 mm, obtuse to apiculate. Calyx 1 mm long at flowering enlarging to 3 mm. Corolla pale mauve to rosy pink, 4—5 mm long; lower lip with a deltoid tooth or projection at the base and somewhat hooded at the apex. Fig. 23: 2.
Habitat
Distinguished from other species in Southern Africa by the broadly ovate, overlapping bracts. There is a good deal of variation in the degree of pubescence; in S.W.A./Namibia the stems and leaves tend to be glabrous while in the eastern part of the distribution range they are usually canescent, often with longer hairs present as well. As pointed out by Ryding, I.e., A. buchnerianus belongs to a group of six tropical African species in which the lower lip of the corolla has a conspicuous projection at the base and is somewhat hooded at the apex resulting in an explosive pollination mechanism. The other five species do not extend into Southern Africa.
Use
2. Aeollanthus buchnerianus Briq. in Bot. Jb. 19: 187 (1894); Bak. in F.T.A. 5: 392 (1900); Ryding in Nord. J. Bot. 1: 156 (1981). Type: Angola, Malanje, Bango, Buchner 571 (B, holo.t; K, lecto., fide Ryding).
Range
Recorded from northern S.W.A./Namibia, com­mon at higher elevations in the Transvaal, extending to eastern Orange Free State and the adjoining parts of northern Natal, Lesotho and eastern Cape; although recorded from Swaziland by Compton, Fl. Swaziland 66 (1966), the specimens so named are A. rehmannii. Also found in Zimbabwe, Angola and Mozambique, northwards to Tanzania. Grows in shallow soil among rocks, in semi-shady places. Map 66.
Aeollanthus buchnerianus [family LAMIACEAE]
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