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Aneilema hockii [family COMMELINACEAE]

Date Updated: 19 August 2007

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
Aneilema hockii [family COMMELINACEAE]
Common names
Aneilema aequinoctiale (P. Beauv.) Loudon var. kirkii C. B. CI. in A. DC, Monogr. Phan. 3: 222 (1881). Syn-types: Mozambique: Chupanga (Shupanga), in damp spots, 10 January 1863, Kirk s.n. (K!, lectotype of Bre­nan, I.e., 193); same locality, January 1859, Kirk s.n. (K!); Near Sena (Senna), 3 January 1860, Kirk s.n. (K!). Aneilema aequinoctiale auct. p. p., e.g. Schinz in Bull. Herb. Boissier 4, App. 3: 36 (1896), p. p.; C. B. CI. in F.C. 7: 12 (1897), p. p., and in F.T.A. 8: 65 (1901), p. p.; Van Druten in Flow. PI. Afr. 33: 1302 (1959), non (P. Beauv.) Loudon (1830). Aneilema wildii Merxm. in Suessenguth & Merxmiiller, Trans. Rhod. Sci. Assoc. 43: 152 (1951). Type: Zim­babwe: Marandellas, 14 January 1941, Dehn 251 (M!).
Information
Tufted perennial with erect to ascending or straggling shoots 0,3-1,2 m tall. Roots thick, fleshy. Leaves spirally arranged, leaf-blades sessile or petiolate, usually linear-lanceolate to lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, (30-)50-150(-245) X (3-)10-35(-48) mm, apex usually acuminate. Inflorescences mostly terminal, (25-)40-105 x 35-100(-120) mm, with 4-11 (-16) mostly opposite or whorled cincinni. Flowers perfect and staminate, (15-)20-40 mm wide; paired petals bluish purple, mostly c. 15 X 15 mm; lateral stamen filaments c. 15-30 mm long, glabrous; style c. 15-25 mm long. Capsules oblong to oblong-elliptic, bilocular, 7-13 x 4-5,5 mm, locules 3-5-seeded. Seeds transversely rectancular to trapezoidal or ovate, 1,5-3,25 x 2,15-2,85 mm, testa shallowly scrobiculate to slightly rugose. Fig. 7:1.
Habitat
The large, bluish purple flowers (variously described as blue, mauve, lavender, etc.) readily distinguish this species. The capsules are generally longer, less pubescent (commonly nearly glabrous) and have more seeds per locule than those of A. aequinoctiale (no. 3). Typically the capsules are emarginate and lack a terminal apicule (the persistent style base), unlike the capsules of A. aequinoc­tiale.
Use
1. Aneilema hockii De Wild, in Feddes Reprium 12: 290 (1913); Brenan in Kew Bull. 7: 190 (1952); Schreiber et al. in F.S.W.A. 157: 2 (1967); Faden in Agnew, Upland Kenya Wild Flow. 664 (1974). Type: Zaire: Upper Katanga, Elisabethville, 1911, Hock s.n. (BR!).
Range
South West Africa/Namibia, Botswana, Transvaal and Swaziland and north to Zaire, Uganda and southern Ethiopia; c. 640-1 280 m altitude (in our area); woodland and bushland, often on rocky slopes; growing in partial shade. Map 33.
Aneilema hockii [family COMMELINACEAE]
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