Eriospermum sabulosum

80. Eriospermum sabulosum P.L.Perry sp.nov., vagina folii nigricante lamina minuta et projecturis paucis anguste teretibus ramificantibus distinguendum est. Type: South Africa, Cape Province, Namaqualand, 3 km from old main road towards Spoegrivier, Snijman 1122, (NBG, holotypus).

Plants with hysteranthous leaves, solitary, foliage up to 70 mm high, inflorescence 30 mm.

Tuber pyriform, up to 35 mm high and 15 mm wide; skin light brown, interior white; growing point basal, with a lateral groove for the shoot.

Old leaf sheaths 30-35 mm long, about 2 mm diameter, light brown, membranous when young becoming darker with age.

Leaf solitary, erect; contemporary leaf sheath terete, exserted up to 70 mm,1 .&l .5 mm diameter, shiny, dark maroon, almost black, glabrous; lamina greatly reduced, broadly ovate-cordate, up to 7 mm long and 7 mm wide, apex retrorse, glaucous green; enations few (4-7), terete, irregularly 2-4 times branched, up to 45 mm long and barely 1 mm diameter, apex pointed, mucronate; lamina and enations entirely glabrous.

Peduncular bract barely reaching ground level, non-sheathing for 1-2 mm, apex retrorse, somewhat fleshy, whitish with red streaking towards the apex.

Peduncle 20 mm long, 1 mm diameter, glaucous green with dark purplish-red streaking.

Raceme compact, about 12 mm long and 13 mm wide, with about 7 flowers.

Bracts ovate attenuate, 1.0-1.5 mm long, membranous, transparent with a brown midnerve. Pedicels 2-3 mm long, erecto-patent.

Flowers triangular in outline, up to 7 mm diameter.

Tepals dimorphic, connate at the base only, white with a green midnerve and red streaking surrounding the midnerve; outer tepals spreading, narrowly elliptic-attenuate to linear, 4 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, inner erect, lanceolate, apex denticulate and curved over the anthers.

Filaments adnate nearly 1 mm up the tepals, sub-equal, triangular, 2 mm long and barely 1 mm wide, bright orange.

Ovary subglobose to ovoid, 1.5 mm long and wide, green.

Style cylindrical, 1.5 mm long, white.

Flowering time: March.

Leafing period: April to October.

Distribution and habitat: So far E.sabulosum is known only from one population south west of Kamieskroon. It occurs on coarse sand flats, near a granite outcrop.

Diagnostic features: The terete, dark maroon contemporary leaf sheath and tiny leaf with a few long, thin, glabrous and somewhat glaucous, branched, enations are quite distinctive. The white-fleshed tuber and small inflorescence also separate E.sabulosum from other species with similar enations such as E.cervicorne (Figure 143).

Reference: Pauline L. Perry, A REVISION OF THE GENUS ERIOSPERMUM (Eriospermaceae)