Raphionacme haeneliae
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Image 1
Habit
21 Feb 2018
Image 2
Leaves
21 Feb 2018
| Family: | Apocynaceae |
| Full name: | Raphionacme haeneliae Venter & R.L.Verh. |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | - |
| English common name(s): | - |
| Synonym(s): | - |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Succulent leaves. Spreading, glabrous herb up to 0.3 m high. Tubers few to numerous, up to 250 mm long, narrowly cylindrical-ovoid. Aerial stems one to few, up to 0.4 m long, 4–7 mm diameter, erect to spreading, succulent-herbaceous, branching lateral. Leaves spreading, mostly folded, sub-sessile to shortly petiolate; blade 50–80×10–40 mm, broadly to narrowly ovate, succulent,green, glossy, margin undulate, secondary veins hardly visible, arching and 6–8 to a side, apex recurvate and acute to acuminate,base obtuse. Inflorescences appearing before leaves, terminal, branched, each branch ±3-flowered, peduncles 3–5 mm long, pedicels 2–3 mm long; bracts 1–2 mm long, ovate. Corolla tube 2 mm long, campanulate; lobes 4×2 mm, spreading, oblong–ovate, obtuse, outside lemon-green, inside lemon-green flushed pink in centre. Corona lemon-green, coronal feet conical, free; lobes 4–5 mm long, filiform, apex tortuous. Stamens from inner base of coronal feet; filaments 1 mm long, filiform; anthers 1.5×0.5 mm, elliptic, white, full length slits. Ovaries ±1 mm long, style ±1 mm long, terete; style-head ±1.5×1.4 mm, broadly ovoid; translators ±2 mm long, spoon broadly ovate. Gynostegium elevated above corolla mouth. Follicles paired, widely divergent, 65–70×5–6 mm, linear-ovoid with corniculate apex. Seeds 10×4 mm, oblong–elliptic, concave, surface striate-verrucose, brown; coma 12–15 mm long, whitish (Venter and Verhoeven: Figs. 1–5 (1996)). Distribution and ecology: R. haeneliae is found in the Namib-Naukluft Park in Namibia (Fig. 9) under true desert conditions at 200–500 m altitude. The species is seldom seen as it appears above ground only after the rare rain shower, which may occur with years inbetween. However, after rains it is quite common on the white gravelly sand plains, found between the low dunes. (from "A taxonomic revision of Raphionacme" by HJT Venter, South African Journal of Botany, 75 (2009). p. 292–350) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
