Asphodelus Fistulosus (Asphodelaceae, Asphodeloideae), a New Naturalised Alien Species from the West Coast of South Africa ⁎ J.S

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South African Journal of Botany 79 (2012) 48–50 www.elsevier.com/locate/sajb

Research note Asphodelus fistulosus (Asphodelaceae, Asphodeloideae), a new naturalised alien species from the West Coast of South Africa ⁎ J.S. Boatwright

Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X7, Claremont 7735, South Africa Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa

Received 4 November 2011; received in revised form 18 November 2011; accepted 21 November 2011

Abstract

Asphodelus fistulosus or onionweed is recorded in South Africa for the ﬁrst time and is the ﬁrst record of an invasive member of the Asphodelaceae in the country. Only two populations of this plant have been observed, both along disturbed roadsides on the West Coast of South Africa. The extent and invasive potential of this infestation in the country is still limited but the species is known to be an aggressive invader in other parts of the world. © 2011 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Asphodelaceae; Asphodelus; Invasive species

1. Introduction flowers (Patterson, 1996). This paper reports on the presence of this species in South Africa. A population of A. fistulosus was The genus Asphodelus L. comprises 16 species distributed in first observed in the early 1990's by Drs John Manning and Eurasia and the Mediterranean (Días Lifante and Valdés, 1996). Peter Goldblatt during field work for their Wild Flower Guide It is superficially similar to the largely southern African to the West Coast (Manning and Goldblatt, 1996). In 2011 a Trachyandra Kunth but can be distinguished by the articulated second population was found by the same collectors close to pedicels. Together with Asphodeline Rchb., it forms the earliest Hopefield. It represents the first invasive member of the Aspho- diverging lineage of the largely southern African Asphodelaceae delaceae in South Africa. (Chase et al., 2000; Devey et al., 2006; Smith and Van Wyk, 1998). Ten Asphodelus species have been recorded from Medi- terranean North Africa (Días Lifante and Valdés, 1996), while 2. Species description Asphodelus tenuifolius Cav. extends to Eritrea and Somalia Asphodelus fistulosus L., Sp. Pl. 1: 309 (1753). Type: “Habitat (Demissew and Nordal, 1997; Thulin, 1995). No species have ” thus far been recorded from southern Africa (Germishuizen and in Gallo-Provincia, Hispania, Creta. , Löfling s.n., Herb. Linn. Meyer, 2003). No. 431.2 (LINN, lecto., designated by El-Gadi, 1978). Asphodelus fistulosus L. is native to the Mediterranean region Annual or short-lived perennial to 0.8 m in height. Rhizome and Macaronesia (Días Lifante and Valdés, 1996) but has been short, vertical; roots fibrous, yellow. Leaves erect, narrowly cylindrical, 15–40×2–3 mm, hollow, sheathing at base. Inflo- reported as a noxious weed in several countries, where it was – introduced predominantly as an ornamental for its attractive rescence a branched panicle, peduncle erect, terete, 2 3mm diam. at base; bracts ovate-acuminate, 3–7×2–5 mm, white, – ⁎ membranous; pedicels erect, articulated near middle, 3 5mm Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private – Bag X7, Claremont 7735, South Africa. Tel.: +27 0 21 799 8662; fax: +27 0 21 long at anthesis, ultimately 6 8 mm long in fruit. Flowers 761 4151. patent, white to pinkish with pinkish-brown midribs; tepals E-mail address: [email protected]. spreading but suberect and weakly clawed in basal ±1 mm,

0254-6299/$ -see front matter © 2011 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2011.11.008 J.S. Boatwright / South African Journal of Botany 79 (2012) 48–50 49 outer elliptic, 10–11×2–3 mm, inner broadly elliptic to ob- Common names: Hollow-stem asphodel, onionweed, pink ovate, 10–11×3–4 mm. Stamens in two whorls, suberect, asphodel, wild onion. spreading; filaments expanded at base and filiform distally, white, outer ±6 mm long, inner ±8 mm long, papillate with 3. Distribution and habitat broad basal part patently scabrid; anthers 1.5–2.0 mm long, orange. Ovary globose, ±1.0–1.5 mm long, brownish; style To date A. fistulosus has been found in sandy soils along dis- straight, filiform, ±5–6 mm long, white; stigma tri-lobed, turbed roadsides between Vredenburg and Malmesbury on the orange. Capsule globose, 4–6×3–6 mm, light brown. Seeds West Coast of South Africa. It does not yet appear to have angular, ±3–4 mm long, with deep irregular pits, brown to spread into adjacent farmlands or native plant communities. It black, surface papillate (Fig. 1a–c). Flowering time: winter to is uncertain when and how the species was introduced but it spring (December to June) in its native range; in spring may have been via contaminated crop seeds or hay. Large (August to October) in South Africa. 2n=28, 56 (Rejon et al., areas of the West Coast have been transformed for cultivation 1990). of especially wheat (Rebelo et al., 2006). Both populations

Fig. 1. Morphology, habit and distribution of Asphodelus fistulosus. (a) Habit; (b) flower; (c) flowers and capsules; (d) known distribution in southern Africa. Photographs taken at turn-off to St. Helenabaai and Stompneusbaai. 50 J.S. Boatwright / South African Journal of Botany 79 (2012) 48–50 still appear to be small, with less than 15 plants per population References seen (Fig. 1d). Auld, B.A., Medd, R.W., 1987. Weeds: An Illustrated Botanical Guide to the A. fistulosus is also invasive in the south-western United Weeds of Australia. Inkata Press, Melbourne. States, Australia, India, Spain and New Zealand (Patterson, Chase, M.W., De Bruijn, A.Y., Cox, A.V., Reeves, G., Rudall, P.J., Johnson, M.A.T., 1996). In Australia and America the species is found in Eguiarte, L.E., 2000. Phylogenetics of Asphodelaceae (Asparagales): an analysis of plastid rbcL and trnL-F DNA sequences. Annals of Botany 86, 935–951. pastures, rangelands and crops, where it excludes grasses and Demissew, S., Nordal, I., 1997. Asphodelaceae. In: Edwards, S., Demissew, S., other desirable forage species and is avoided by livestock Hedberg, I. (Eds.), Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea, vol. 6. Addis Ababa Uni- (Auld and Medd, 1987; DiTomaso and Healy, 2007). The versity, Ethiopia and Uppsala University, Sweden, p. 116. main method of dispersal appears to be by seeds, which may Devey, D.S., Leitch, I., Rudall, P.J., Pires, J.C., Pillon, Y., Chase, M.W., 2006. be dispersed by animals, water, vehicles and other human activ- Systematics of Xanthorrhoeaceae sensu lato, with emphasis on Bulbine. Aliso 22, 345–351. ities. The seeds can survive in the soil bank for several years Días Lifante, Z., Valdés, B., 1996. Revisión del género Asphodelus L. (Asphode- before germinating once conditions are favourable, especially laceae) en el Mediterráneo Occidental. Boissiera 52, 11–189. with regard to precipitation and temperature (DiTomaso and DiTomaso, J.M., Healy, E.A., 2007. Weeds of California and other western states, Healy, 2007). A. fistulosus is listed in the Global Compendium vol. 2. University of California Publication 3488, California, pp. 897–899. of Weeds along with seven other species of Asphodelus El-Gadi, A., 1978. Liliaceae. In: Jafri, S.M.H., El-Gadi, A. (Eds.), Flora of Libya 57. Al Faateh University, Faculty of Science, Tripoli, p. 16. (Randall, 2002). Germishuizen, G., Meyer, N.L. (Eds.), 2003. Plants of Southern Africa: An Annotated Checklist. Strelitzia 14. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria. Manning, J.C., Goldblatt, P., 1996. Botancial Society Wild Flower Guide 7: 3.1. Specimens examined West Coast. Botanical Society of South Africa. Cape Town and Darling Wild Flower Society, Darling. Patterson, D.T., 1996. Temperature and photoperiod effects on onionweed South Africa. Western Cape: 3218 (Clanwilliam): along (Asphodelus fistulosus) and its potential range in the United States. Weed R27 from Velddrif to Cape Town at turn-off to St. Helenabaai Technology 10, 684–688. and Stompneusbaai (−CC), 28 Aug. 2009, Boatwright et al. Randall, R., 2002. A Global Compendium of Weeds. Missouri Botanical Garden 296 (NBG); 6 Sept. 2011, Boatwright and Magee 585 (NBG). Press, St. Louis. 3318 (Cape Town): Hopefield, Koperfontein, along main Rebelo, A.G., Boucher, C., Helme, N., Mucina, L., Rutherford, M.C., 2006. − Fynbos biome. In: Mucina, L., Rutherford, M.C. (Eds.), Vegetation of road ( AB), 20 Sept. 2011, Manning 3353 (NBG). South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, Strelitzia 19. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. Rejon, C.R., Blanca, G., Cueto, M., Lozano, R., Ruiz Rejon, M., 1990. Asphodelus Acknowledgements tenuifolius and A. fistulosus (Liliaceae) are morphologically, genetically and biologically different species. Plant Systematics and Evolution 169, 1–12. Smith, G.F., Van Wyk, B.-E., 1998. Asphodelaceae. In: Kubitzki, K. (Ed.), The Dr J.C. Manning (SANBI) is thanked for bringing the spe- Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, 3. Springer, Berlin, pp. 130–140. cies to my attention and Dr A.R. Magee (SANBI) for reading Thulin, M., 1995. Aphodelaceae. In: Thulin, M. (Ed.), Flora of Somalia, 4. an earlier version of this paper. Royal Botanica Gardens, Kew, p. 32.

Edited by JC Manning