Felicia westae

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Felicia westae
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Felicia
Section: Felicia sect. Anhebecarpaea
Species:
F. westae
Binomial name
Felicia westae
Synonyms
  • Aster westae

Felicia westae is a sparsely branched shrub growing up to 40 cm (1+13 ft) tall, that is assigned to the family Asteraceae. The lower parts of the stems have lost their leaves and the upper part has many crowded, upwardly angled and curved, alternate leaves pressed against the stem, with the edges curled inward. The flower heads form at the tips of the branches, each about 313 cm (113 in) across, with about twenty purplish blue ray florets surrounding many yellow disc florets. It is only known from a small area in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. [2]

Contents

Description

Felicia westae is a low, up to 40 cm (1+13 ft) high, sparsely branched shrub. The lower parts of the stem are largely hairless, the higher parts are crowded with arched upturned leaves. The leaves are line- to lance-shaped, 16–18 mm (0.63–0.71 in) long and 1–112 mm (0.04-0.06 in) wide, the surfaces hairless, and the bristly serrated margins curled upward and towards each other. [2]

The flower heads are set individually on short, up to 1 cm (25 in) long stalks, which are set with thin white bristles. Surrounding each flower head are three to four whorls of bracts (or phyllaries) that together form the so-called involucre, which is up to 13 mm (0.51 in) in diameter. These bracts are of different length, lance-shaped, about 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) long and approximately 112 mm (0.06 in) wide, with a bristly margin and glands. Each head contains about twenty female ray florets, each with closed, tubular part at the base that is hairy in its upper part and a purplish blue strap of about 10 mm (25 in) long and 2 mm (0.079 in) wide. These surround numerous bisexual disc florets with a yellow corolla of about 4 mm (0.16 in) long, hairy in the middle. In the center of each corolla are five anthers merged into a tube, through which the style grows when the floret opens, hoovering up the pollen on its shaft. At the tip of both style branches is a narrowly triangular appendage. Surrounding the base of the corolla are many, yellowish white, shallowly serrated, more or less deciduous pappus bristles, all about equal in length at 6 mm (0.24 in). The eventually yellowish brown to reddish, dry, one-seeded, indehiscent fruits called cypselae are oval in outline, about 3.2 mm (0.13 in) long and 1.2 mm (0.047 in) wide, with a weak ridge along the margin. The cypselae of the ray florets are hairless, those of the disc florets short-haired. [2]

Taxonomy

This species of Felicia was first described by Henry Georges Fourcade in 1932, based on a specimen he collected in 1928. He named it Aster westae. Jürke Grau in his 1973 Revision of the genus Felicia (Asteraceae), reassigned the species and made the combination Felicia westae. The species is considered to be part of the section Anhebecarpaea. [2]

Distribution, habitat and conservation

Felicia westae was known from many observations near Humansdorp in the southwest of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, where it occurred on river banks in low-lying areas near the coast. It grows in vegetation types called Tsitsikamma Sandstone Fynbos and Garden Route Shale Fynbos. It is considered to be endangered because its habitat suffered from expanding agriculture and timber plantations, while on the riverbanks it is out-competed by invasive plant species. After 1944 it was no longer found until it was rediscovered in 2015 along a few tributaries of the Tsitsikamma River. [2] [3]

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Felicia annectens is an annual plant of up to about 25 cm (10 in) high, that is assigned to the family Asteraceae. The lower leaves are opposite and the higher leaves alternate. The bloated involucre consists of very broad, hairless bracts. These protect up to ten, short, bluish ray florets that encircle yellow, partly sterile disc florets. The heads sit individually on top of up to 6 cm long stalks. The species was considered extinct after no observations were made after 1915, but was rediscovered in the 21st century. It occurs in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Felicia wrightii is a low, up to 20 cm (8 in) high, perennial, herbaceous plant with conspicuous basal leaf rosettes, and runners that end in rosettes. It has narrow bracts along the inflorescence stalks on top of which are individual flower heads with an involucre of three whorls of bracts, about sixteen ray florets with about 1 cm long, pale blue straps, that encircle many yellow disc florets. No fertile seeds have been found, so this species may solely reproduce vegetatively. The species is only known from one location in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg, where it grows on damp stream banks.

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Felicia clavipilosa is an upright, richly branched shrub of up to 60 cm (2 ft) high, that is assigned to the family Asteraceae. It has alternately arranged leaves, and flower heads with 3–4 whorls of involucral bracts with many yellow disc florets in the centre. Very characteristic for the species are the short club-shaped hairs on its fruits. There are two subspecies. Subsp. clavipilosa has narrowly lance-shaped entire leaves with one vein and pale mauve ray florets. Subspecies transvaalensis has lance-shaped leaves with one or three veins and white ray florets. The species occurs in southern Africa, with subsp. clavipilosa having a western distribution in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, and subsp. transvaalensis restricted to the east, from Zimbabwe, through Botswana to South Africa. The subspecies transvaalensis is sometimes called pokkiesblom in Afrikaans.

<i>Felicia mossamedensis</i> A plant in the daisy family from southern Africa

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Felicia smaragdina is an annual, bristly and glandular, much branched plant of up to 40 cm high, that has been assigned to the family Asteraceae. It has seated, slightly succulent, line-shaped leaves of up to 3 cm long and about 1 mm (0.04 in) wide. Its flower heads sit individually at the tip of the branches, and contain about twenty yellow ray florets of about 8 mm long and 112 mm (0.06 in) wide, surrounding many yellow disc florets. A unique character is that when dried, the florets become greenish. The species is an endemic species of Namibia.

<i>Felicia tenella</i> A annual or biennial plant in the daisy family from South Africa

Felicia tenella is an annual, sometimes biennial, herbaceous plant that may be slightly woody at its base, of 5–70 cm tall, that is assigned to the family Asteraceae. The species is very variable in size and hairiness. Its branches may be erect or ascending, and the leaves are narrowly line-shaped, 2–5 cm long and about 1 mm (0.04 in) wide. The leaves have a callous tip, lack visible nerves, and are mostly rigidly ciliate. The flower heads sit individually at the tip of stalks, have an involucre of three whorls of bracts, and about thirty light blue ray florets surrounding many yellow disc florets. Four subspecies are recognised. The species naturally occurs in the Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces of South Africa.

References

  1. "Felicia westae (Fourc.) Grau". The Plant List.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Grau, J. (1973). "Revision der Gattung Felicia (Asteraceae)". Mitteilungen der Botanischer Staatssammlung München. IX: 335–336. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  3. "Felicia westae". SANBI Red List of South African Plants.