Wahlenbergia tenella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Campanulaceae
Genus: Wahlenbergia
Species:
W. tenella
Binomial name
Wahlenbergia tenella
(L.f.) Lammers
Synonyms
  • Campanula tenella L.f.
  • Lightfootia tenella (L.f.) A.DC.
  • Lightfootia diffusa Buek

Wahlenbergia tenella (known as the "Fine Capebell") is a herbaceous plant in the family Campanulaceae native to the southern Cape regions of South Africa.[1]

Description

Wahlenbergia tenella has an erect-sprawling growth-habit.

Its leaves are small, ovate, thick and strongly recurved. The leaf tips are acute and the margins are entire (sometimes with a few minute marginal teeth near the leaf base).

Its flowers are assembled at the tips of the stems, often in groups of about three. The petals are strongly recurved, sometimes slightly cucullate at the tip. The outside of the petals ranges in colour from purple to blue to white. The style is usually blue-tipped. The base of the filaments is truncate-to-obovate (sometimes even appearing to be 3-lobed), and is covered in thick, short cilia. Its calyx lobes are relatively short (2-3mm), acute, involute and, as with the leaves, sometimes with a few minute marginal teeth near the base.

The ovary is usually glabrous, and more than half inferior. Basally it is hemispherical or occasionally slightly flattened or pointed.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Wahlenbergia tenella is indigenous to the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. It occurs from Cape Town in the west, to Bredasdorp in the south, Ladismith in the north, and eastwards as far as Port Elizabeth and Queenstown in the Eastern Cape Province. It is most commonly found in lower altitude sandy substrates, especially on coastal plains but also sometimes inland.

This species is similar to, and often confused with, Wahlenbergia tenerrima and Wahlenbergia nodosa. [3]

Varieties

Wahlenbergia tenella has two recognised varieties:[4][5]

  • W. tenella var. palustris (Adamson) W.G.Welman. Indigenous to marshes, river-banks and moist, mountainous habitats in the Langeberg, between Swellendam and Riversdale.
  • W. tenella var. stokoei (Adamson) W.G.Welman. Indigenous to the low coastal mountains between Caledon and Bredasdorp.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wahlenbergia tenella.
  1. ↑ "Threatened Species Programme | SANBI Red List of South African Plants".
  2. ↑ Adamson, R.S. 1955. The South African species of Lightfootia. Journal of South African Botany 21. p.191.
  3. ↑ Adamson, R.S. 1955. The South African species of Lightfootia. Journal of South African Botany 21. pp.192-193.
  4. ↑ Adamson, R.S. 1955. The South African species of Lightfootia. Journal of South African Botany 21. p.194.
  5. ↑ "Threatened Species Programme | SANBI Red List of South African Plants".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.