by Peter Goldblatt B.A. Krukoff Curator of African Botany, Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, Missouri 63166, USA. [email protected] and John C. Manning Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X7, Claremont, 7735 Cape Town. [email protected] Illustrated by John C. Manning Scientific Editor: G. Germishuizen Technical Editor: B.A. Momberg 2 Cussonia Ave., Brummeria, Pretoria Private Bag X101, 0001 Pretoria 2007 This series has replaced Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa and Annals of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens which were inherited from predecessor organisations. The plant genus Strelitzia occurs naturally in the eastern parts of southern Africa. It comprises three arborescent species, known as wild bananas, and two acaulescent species, known as crane flowers or bird-of-paradise flowers. The logo of the South African National Biodiversity Institute is based on the striking inflorescence ofStrelitzia reginae, a native of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal that has become a garden favourite worldwide. It symbolises the commitment of the Institute to promote the sustainable use, conservation, appreciation and enjoyment of the exceptionally rich biodiversity of South Africa, for the benefit of all people. Referee: O.A. Leistner. Front cover: Babiana praemorsa Back cover: Babiana minuta, B. carminea, B. patula, B. engysiphon. Citation of this publication: GOLDBLATT, P. & MANNING, J.C. 2007. A revision of the southern African genus Babiana, Iridaceae: Crocoideae. Strelitzia 18. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria and Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri. ISBN-13: 978-1-919976-32-7 ISBN-10: 1-919976-32-9 © Obtainable from: South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X101, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa. Tel: +27 12 843-5000. Fax: +27 12 804-3211 E-mail: [email protected]. Website: www.sanbi.org. Typesetting and layout by E. Fouché, SANBI. Printed by House of Print, P.O. Box 9517, 2000 Johannesburg. Tel.: (011) 4938516. Fax: (011) 4931870. Contents New combinations, names, species and status in Strelitzia 18 (2007) . iv Abstract . v Acknowledgements . vi Introduction . 1 Materials and methods . 2 Morphology and diagnostic characters . 3 Infrageneric classification . 7 Relationships of Babiana . 9 Floral biology and pollination . 10 Systematics . 11 Key to sections . 12 Key to species . 12 Section 1 . Teretifolieae G .J .Lewis (spp . 1–40) . 15 1 .1 Series Brevitubae (spp .1–19) . 16 1 .2 Series Cuneifolieae (spp . 20–23) . 32 1 .3 Series Longitubae (spp . 24–40) . 36 Section 2 . Antholyzoides (spp . 41–51) . 53 2 .1 Series Exohebeoides (spp . 41–49) . 53 2 .2 Series Antholyzoides (spp . 50, 51) . 60 Section 3 . Babiana (spp . 52–88) . 61 3 .1 Series Patulae (spp . 52–56) . 62 3 .2 Series Secundae (sp . 57) . 66 3 .3 Series Mucronatae (spp . 58–70) . 67 3 .4 Series Scariosae (spp . 71–73) . 80 3 .5 Series Babiana (spp . 74–83) . 83 3 .6 Series Strictae (spp . 84–88) . 90 Excluded species . 95 References . 95 Index . 97 Babiana arenicola Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 74 Babiana carminea J.C.Manning & Goldblatt, sp. nov., 46 Babiana cinnamomea J.C.Manning & Goldblatt, sp. nov., 29 Babiana confusa (G.J.Lewis) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, comb. et stat. nov., 23 Babiana engysiphon J.C.Manning & Goldblatt, sp. nov., 69 Babiana gariepensis Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 31 Babiana grandiflora Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 21 Babiana inclinata Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 86 Babiana karooica Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 26 Babiana lanata Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 20 Babiana lapeirousioides Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 49 Babiana melanops Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 93 Babiana mucronata (Jacq.) Ker Gawl. subsp. minor (G.J.Lewis) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, stat. nov., 68 Babiana nana (Andrews) Spreng. subsp. maculata (Klatt) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, comb. et stat. nov., 17 Babiana noctiflora J.C.Manning & Goldblatt, sp. nov., 78 Babiana papyracea Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 81 Babiana petiolata Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 65 Babiana radiata Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 41 Babiana rigidifolia Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, nom. et stat. nov. 44 Babiana rubella Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, sp. nov., 18 Babiana sambucina (Jacq.) Ker Gawl. subsp. longibracteata (G.J.Lewis) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, comb. et stat. nov., 41 Babiana tanquana J.C.Manning & Goldblatt, sp. nov., 25 Babiana toximontana J.C.Manning & Goldblatt, sp. nov., 72 iv Abstract A member of Iridaceae subfamily Crocoideae, Babiana Ker Gawl. is a genus of some 88 species of southern and central Africa. Although considered relatively well known as a result of G.J. Lewis’s (1959) monograph, in which 61 species were recognized, subsequent exploration has resulted in the discovery of many more species. Three new species have been described since 1959, and in 1990 two more were transferred from Antholyza L., a genus differing from Babiana only in floral adaptations for sunbird pollination. Our taxonomic philosophy, strongly oriented toward the biology of the plants, has led us to adopt a narrower species concept than Lewis entertained and this has led to the recognition of more species. The taxonomy of Babiana now requires thorough re-evaluation. Babiana is divided into three sections: the more generalized section Teretifolieae G.J.Lewis; the derived section Babiana with inner bracts divided to the base; and section Antholyzoides Benth. & Hook.f., with bilabiate flowers with clawed tepals and a short perianth tube. Two of the five sections of Lewis’s (1959) classification,Acaste and Scariosae, are included in section Babiana, and those species of her section Babiana with inner bracts forked apically, or to the middle, are transferred to section Teretifolieae. The Socotran B. socotrana Hook.f., which differs from all other members of the genus in its trisulcate pollen grains, basic chromosome number of x = 10, and unspecialized seed morphology, has been referred to a new genus, Cyanixia Goldblatt & J.C.Manning. While section Teretifolieae occurs across the entire geographic range of Babiana, section Antholyzoides is restricted to Namaqualand and the adjacent northern edge of the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), and section Babiana extends from southern Namaqualand across the CFR to the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Babiana shows a pattern of speciation and adaptive radiation in the southern African winter rainfall zone with two centres of diversity, one in section Babiana in the extreme southwest where rainfall is highest, and the other in sections Antholyzoides and Teretifolieae in Namaqualand and southwestern Namibia, to the north, which have a semi-arid to arid climate. Keywords: Babiana Ker Gawl., biogeography, Iridaceae, southern Africa, systematics v Acknowledgements Support for this study by grants 6704-00, 7103-01 and 7316-02 from the National Geographic Society is gratefully acknowledged. We thank Dr O.A. Leistner for reviewing the MS. We thank John Donaldson and his research group for their hospitality at their field station at Nieuwoudtville, and for help with documenting Babiana papyracea, and Rachel and Rod Saunders and Jan Vlok for drawing our attention to various novelties in the genus. We particularly acknowledge our debt to Ingrid Nänni, Elizabeth Parker and Lendon Porter for their assistance and companionship in the field; and thank Pieter Winter for his help in understandingB. bainesii; Roy Gereau for advice with various nomenclatural questions and for checking our Latin descriptions; and Mary Stiffler who cheerfully helped solve bibliographic questions and provided copies of numerous articles not readily available to us. Collecting permits were provided by the Nature Conservation authorities of Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, and Western Cape Provinces, South Africa. vi A B C D E F G H Plate 1.—Babiana: A, pygmaea (No. 2); B, minuta (No. 11); C, tanquana (No. 12); D, torta (No. 14); E, flabellifolia(No. 20); F, cuneata (No. 21); G, confusa (No. 9); H, pauciflora (No. 5). A B C D E F G H Plate 2.—Babiana: A, pubescens (No. 23); B, attenuata (No. 24); C, curviscapa (No. 25); D, sambucina (No. 28); E, rigidifolia (No. 31); F, dregei (No. 32); G, cinnamomea (No. 17); H, framesii (No. 33). A B C D E F G H Plate 3.—Babiana: A, carminea (No. 34); B, tubulosa (No. 35); C, brachystachys (No. 37); D, bainesii (No. 40); E, fimbriata (No. 44); F, sinuata (No. 45); G, salteri (No. 64); H, toximontana (No. 63). A B C D E F G Plate 4.—Babiana: A, planifolia (No. 47); B, lobata (No. 48); C, thunbergii (No. 50); D, patula (No. 53); E, mucronata (No. 58); F, arenicola (No. 65); G, engysiphon (No. 60). A B C D E F G H I Plate 5.—Babiana: A, ringens (No. 51); B, scabrifolia (No. 66); C, ecklonii (No. 68); D, odorata (No. 69); E, noctiflora (No. 70); F, spathacea (No. 72); G, fragrans (No. 74); H, inclinata (No. 77); I, rubrocyanea (No. 78). A B C D E Plate 6.—Babiana: A, leipoldtii (No. 79); B, regia (No. 80); C, stricta (No. 84); D, melanops (No. 87); E, villosa (No. 88). 1 Introduction A thorough review of the central and southern African Three sections are recognized here in Babiana: genus Babiana Ker Gawl., conducted over the years sections Babiana, Antholyzoides, and Teretifolieae. 1996–2004, shows that this member of the Iridaceae The circumscription of section Antholyzoides is largely subfamily Crocoideae comprises some 88 species. concordant with Lewis’s section Exohebeoides but Like most African genera of the family, Babiana has with the addition of B. ringens and B. thunbergii (see radiated extensively in the southern African winter discussion below). Section Babiana is, however, restricted rainfall zone, which lies along the southwestern edge to species with the inner floral bracts divided to the base of the subcontinent.