Massonia gypsicola (Asparagaceae, Scilloideae), a new species from the Knersvlakte in South Africa

Abstract

Asparagaceae (subfamily Scilloideae, tribe Hyacintheae) is alternatively regarded as Hyacinthaceae subfam. Hyacinthoideae, an option of our choice. Additional information on generic circumscriptions in Hyacinthoideae can be found in Martínez-Azorín et al. (2013, 2014a, 2014b), Pinter et al. (2013) and Wetschnig et al. (2014). The genus Massonia Houttuyn (1780: 424) occurs in South Africa and in southwestern Namibia and it belongs to subfamily Hyacinthoideae, tribe Massonieae (Speta 1998a, 1998b, Wetschnig et al. 2002, Pfosser et al. 2003, Manning et al. 2004). Originally, this genus was described to include a single species, Massonia depressa Houttuyn (1780: 424). However, botanical exploration of South Africa in the nineteenth century led Baker (1897) to accept 33 species in the genus. Recent studies in Massonia reduced the number of accepted species to 6 (van der Merwe 2002, Manning & Goldblatt 2003, Summerfield 2004), 8 (Jessop 1976), 12 (Müller-Doblies & Müller-Doblies 1997), or 14 (Species-2000 2017). Our studies on Massonia revealed that the taxonomy of the genus, as accepted in recent revisions, is not satisfactory and several species have been overlooked and misunderstood (Wetschnig et al. 2012, 2014, 2016, Martínez-Azorín et al. 2013, 2014a, 2014b, 2015a, 2015b, Pinter et al. 2013, 2015). Within the framework of a taxonomic revision of Massonia, the study of natural populations, cultivated material as well as herbarium vouchers, revealed existence of some populations of Massonia growing on gypcrete outcrops in Knersvlakte (Western Cape Province) that represent a distinct undescribed species based on clear morphological characters, ecology, and biogeography. Therefore, a formal description for this species, named Massonia gypsicola, is presented below including data on morphology, habitat, biology and distribution.