S. Mr. 1. Bot. 1999. 65(5 & 6): 431 -433 43 1

A new of Ornithogalum subgenus Uroplzyllon (Hyacinthaceae) from central South Africa and southern Namibia

Clare Archer' and R.H. Archer National Botanical Institute. Private Bag X1 01, Pretoria, 0001 Republic of South Africa

R('cei\·,'d 15 ,\/{/.\' 1999: revISed 15 Oc/aha 1999

A new. highly toxic species of Ornithogalum, 0 toxlcarium from central South Africa and southern Namibia IS descnbed Symptoms in small livestock co rrespond wIth 'krimpsiekte' and not with tYPical Ormlhogalum (chlnchennchee) poisoning The pla nt is characterised by a dwarf stature, filiform leaves. capitate , large and large winged

Keywords: Acute cardiac glYCOSide intOXication, Namibia, new species, Omithogafum, South Afnca

'To whom correspondence should be addressed, (E-ma il· [email protected]).

Introduction is similar in some vegetative and noral characters 10 another. The inconspicuolls small species Ornifhogalum f()xicarill/11. here mainly Northern Cape taxon of the series. () lelllri/i) /i1l111 r . descri bed. has had a lo ng hi story of tax onomic neglect and misi­ Delaroche subsp. flridum Oberm. That taxon differs by havi ng dentification although it is well known to farm ers and veterinari­ ans in N.1111 ibia and South A f'ri ca as a hi ghly toxic . In one season it caused the death of nearly 3 000 small livestock.

Descri ption of the new species Omit/lOgallim tox;cariunl (' .·JJ'c:hel' & f?!1 .·Jrc:hel' sp. nov. ad subgenu s { '/'o/)hyl/oll (Salisb.) Baker perti nens: 0 fe11l 1!{i)/iUn/ suhsp (/1"/(//(/1/ affin is remote sell plantae m inutae, inflorescentia subcapi tata ct scmillibus alatis. TYPUS.--\\'estern Cape, 3222 (Beaufort West): Beaufort West Disc. Farm Rysl Kuil .351 , in vicinity of disllsed uran ium mi ne, (~ ~ DB I. S. IO.1983, lIelief & Reid 239(PR E. holo.). (to ape" or in fl orescence) up to 25 111m high. solitary. ovo id . 15- 25 111m diam .. attenuated into a 30-50 mm long fused ('gallwphyll nus·. sec Mliller·Doblics & Miilk r-Dobli es 1996: 374) ned hdo\\ ground: dry outer lUn ics thin. sort. hnwmish. Leaves just emergent or \\ etl developed at 1l00\ieri ng, erect to subercct. 4- 10. ten~tc \\ ith atia"ial surface flat to channclll.!d. 1.0-1.5 111m diam .. !,tlI11 cwhat g. iuk. I"e\\ (±2 -·,f) per pedum.:k creel. with persistcnt dry r ~ mains or (6) !ifj ill perialllh at hase and remains or style at apc". ovoid. up to 10 x 15 ,... nUll S(' ed~ blad . O\,a1. hroad ly winged. 8 x 5-6 mm. Figure 1. " .~ t;W Diagnoslic features and affi nities t) D T he is currently divided into three subgenera (Obermeyer 1978: Nliil le r-Doblies & MU li er-Doblies 1996). The new species Figure I Omitilngalum {oxicorium. A. bu lb with long n.:ck and clearly heinngs in subgenus f/rophyl/on (Salisb.) Baker due to leaves. x I: B. subcapitate in florescence with portion o r a k'a t". x () ; the central longitudinal stripe 011 the perianth segments, the erect C. !lower with fron t lepals and st am \!I1 S tlattt!ncd I'orward. )( 7: D. sty le with small stigma, the large tricostate capsule soon exposed cnpsulc and seeds, x 1. 5. Drawn from photographs anti pn.! se rvcd hut with the remains of the perianth adhering. and the large fbt materi al of l: ulti vated plants donated by Toxicology Sect ion. seeds. W ithin th e subgenus it keys out to section UrophyJloJl, Onderstcpoort Veterinary Institute. origina lly from rarm Schan­ series Urophylloll (MUlI er-Doblies & Mliller-Doblics 1996) and zen. Namihia. ~.12 S. Afr. 1. Bot. 1999,65(5 & 6)

Table 1 A summary of characters distinguishing Ornithogalum tenuifolium subsp. aridum, O. nannodes and O. toxicarium

() fl.'lIl1i/olilflll suhsp. lIridUIII () JlII/IIIOI/ex

Jl llib tll111l"S pap ~ ra(,;~ous hard tm t! lcathery snft and membranous Blilb ll(.!ck not gatllOphylious. wi th horizontal not gamopityllollS. \\ililnUi gillllophyllous. \\ithmll Iwri/Plltal mark ings dlh.:: to Sl!llcsccnr.:c horizontalillarkings Illarkings

persisting as a lull on [tiP or \ lId leaf bases eilfl~ dccidu\IUS ]i'tm\ to p of bul b neck bulb m:l:k etlrl) dcddU(lllS li'om lup of bulb

man) \lIUll) 4-1 () In Il \JreSI.'l.'lKC shape rau:mc raceme subCaplla\1.' raceme I otalllllllln.:scenn: hl!ighl up to -100 nll11 lip to 150 II1Ill up 10 25 mm

"'hapc tl" l10ral brat.:t apex [Ollg·

1:lll\\cr 'hape craieriJIll1l1 III ste llate tJ'atl..!rifonll to stellatc camp

I l ui[ knglb 7 Illlll 7 mm I (I-IS IllIII mostl) sc mJiullili". Jlot wingel.l conltua-shapcl.l . not winged O\ a l. hroad ly , ... inged

Seed dll11ensions 2-4 illlll long. 0,5 111111 long g x 5-6 111m

s pr~a d i ng (l.t!. l hH gamoph yllolls) papery leaf bases wi th undu­ Doblics and MUl ler-Doblies (1996) fo r olle of their new spec i ~s late horizontal marki ngs ( lines of senescence) formi ng a lo03t: in subgcnus ..lspasia frolll 0Jamaqualand. neck 011 top of a mllch larger bulb, involute leaves. inJlores(.;cncc a 10llg nU.:C IllC, long-aculllinate floral bracts, filaments oftt:1l \vith Toxicity marginal ap p~ndages , and seeds not winged (see also Table 1). The aerial parts of the plant appear to be extremely toxic. [n 199() Withi n tilt: subgenus there are in fact no species that are obvi­ it caused severe srock losses (2 077 sheep and 759 goats) in o ll s l ~ ("losd~ re lated to 0. l oxicarillm; those of section Urophyl- sOllthern Namibia following un usuall y heavy winter ra ins (Bam­ 1011 . when: this new species evidentl y belongs. arc a ll muc h hare \(98). Pr ior to this episode it had been well known to nUIll­ larger, with long racemes 150 mm to I 111 long. and with promi­ ers ill th e Karas Mountains as a ' krimpsiekte' (shrinking disease) nent bracts. The broadly winged seeds of a. 1O:l:icorilfnl are cam­ plant. In South Africa, State Veterinarians in the Beaufort West para! ively Inrge but arc not unusual in the subgenus and indicate and Merweville Districts reporled 'kwylbek krimpsiekte' or 'nat­ thaI the species is highly adapted for dispersal by wind. bek krimpsiekte' which they ascribed to a ' small bulbous plant ' The spt:dcs was incorrectly identi fied at WIND as 0 lillI/­ (Botha el 01. in press). The tcrm ·kri mpsickte· refe rs to the lIudi''\" (note the correct spell ing: see Miille r-Doblics & rvlUll er­ lucked-in posture adopted by animals which have been puisont'd Doblies I l)l)(l ; 459) btl( that species is very different (Table 1 J. by grazing on the aeri a l parts of various plant families, in pal1il.:­ Furtherllloct: () HUl1IlOdes is placed in an entirely different sub­ ular Crassulaceae. These symptoms are kno\vn to be caused b) genlls . . b"jlCl.\ia (Salisb.) Baker. by both Obermeyer ( 1978) and cardia c glycoside intoxicmioll. and the presence of these sub ­ rv lUlkr-Doblies and !'vHi ller-Doblies (1996). characterised by stances in () loxicarilllll has been conti rmed (Bamhare 11)9~). capsules fu sifo rm to ellipsoid, hidden by or protruding above the The an imals examined in 1996 had severe haemorrhages of the dr) dosed Jll:rii.lnth; and peria nth withou t fI dark line or this onl y heart and congestion and oedema of the lungs. Intere s ti ngl~. appearing at senescence. these symptoms and pathological findings differ frol11 thos(, The earliest known herbarium specimen of U foxicarillll/ was already known to be caused by Ol'l1iflwga/lIIu (or chincher­ collected by Tyson between 1869 and 1872. while living at rvlur­ inchee) poisoni ng, including several species of subgenus l ·,.u­ r

Anderson NBGI 923129 (BOL [PRE. photostatj). - 3123 (Victoria West): Murraysburg, (-DD), 7~\'soll BOL6877 1) -~--- -"i- .---·-1 -·_···· __··1·· ....-! ..._. .. _. T----t---l---+- --r (BOL [PRE, photostn,]). ...• _.. .f. ._-_ ..,j ...... ) . - 3125 (Steynsburg): Middclburg Di s!.. Farm Thorn Sprt ngs. (- CAl. P,elloar 278, 279 (STEU IPRE. photostat]). - 3222 (l3eaufort W~st): 8 caufort W ~ st Dist.. farm Ryst Ku il 35 1. 22 1 in vicin ity of disused uranium mint:. (- DB), Hefiel & Reid 239 (PRE). 24 -j---

J, 1. Acknowledgements 26 ' , , i Pro fs C.J. Both a and T. W. Naude (reL) of the Fa~ul t y or Vctt:rinar} 28 -j'---I .~... . t I Science. O nderstt! po0l1 are thil nked lor information and for plant material donated. Dr. I Lr. Gkn is thanked for checking the Latlll 30 1' -1 ; diagnosis. 32 _L _I ...... _L_ ; I -l- l ~qr References 34 i ' f ··· , BAMHARE, C. 1998. Suspccwd cardiac glycoside intoxication in slH:cp t2 14 '15 18 and goats in Namibia due to Ornithogalum nallodes Leighton. Figure 2 Known geographical distribution of Ornilhogalllnl Ondersrepoorr Jf Vel. Res. 65: 25-30. to:(lcari/llll. BOTHA . C.J " KELL ERMAN. 1.S., SC HULTZ, R.A., VAN DER LUGT, J.J. & A RCHER, C. (in prcss). A k r im ps ick tc~li k e syndrome common. On ly two specimens in PR E are cited for Namibia, but of small stock po isoned by Omirhoga/ul1l fo:ncarium. JI S Afr. I 'Cl. Bamhare (1998: figure 2) indicates that it is widespread in the Ass. 70. Karas Mo untains of th t: Keetmanshoo p District. Similarl y. it is DY ER, R.A. 197(,. The genera or southern A frican !lowering plants. probably widespread in th e Merweville District of South Africa Vol. 2. Gymnospemls and . Department o r although apparently no herbari um material has been preserved. Agricultural Technic:1 ! Servi ces. Pn:torin. KELLERMAN, T.5" CO ETZE R. JAW. & NAUDE. T.W. 19R8. Plan ' Material studied poisonings and mycoLOx ic()scs o flivcslock in southern Africa. O;o.,:fnrd Namibia Un iversity Press, Cape Town . -2719 (TrUnental): K I.;: ~ t m an shoo p Dist.. f arm Trancntal KEE 299. MOL LE R- DOBU ES. 11. & MO U .E R-DOB LlES, D. 1996. Rcvisionula (- A B). ./ollner1 P11£358-19 (PR E): f nrm Schanzen KEE 28 1. Slale incompicla Omithogalorum Austro-Africanon nn (Hyacinlhaceal!). I 'r!leril/[//"/(lI/ S.Il. (PRE). Feddes Reperl. 107: 361 -548. OBERM EYER, A.A. 1978 . Ornithog(llum: a revision or the so uthern South Africa A frican species. BOlha/ill 12: 323- 376. - 2822 «,l