Names and synonyms

Macowania corymbosa M.D. Henderson

Type

Marriott s.n., KwaZulu-Natal, Bergville distr., Umlambonja River (PRE 22503).

Derivation of names

Macowania = after Dr. Peter MacOwan (1830-1901), botanist, director of the Cape Town Botanic Gardens, and discoverer of new species at the Cape.
corymbosa = with (flowers) in corymbs, with clustered flowers resembling a corymb; heads arranged in a flat-topped inflorescence

Diagnostic characters

Leaves very densely glandular above, margins strongly inrolled

Description

Erect spindly, sticky shrub up to c. 1.5 m tall. Stems densely and coarsely leafy when young, prominent leaf scars on older stems. Leaves linear, closely imbricated, densely surrounding the capitula, erect at first but later reflexed, 30-48 x 2-3 mm, abruptly acute, margins revolute, thinly woolly below, glandular-hispid above and on the midrib below. Capitula ca. 25 mm diam., sessile, 2-5 capitula together in terminal corymb. Involucre funnel-shaped, 12-15 x 8-10 mm, margins brownish. Involucral bracts dark brown along the margins, densely glandular-hispid on the backs. Ray florets yellow; neuter, with or without styles. Disc florets hermaphrodite, corolla narrowly cylindric and hairy below, abruptly bell-shaped and glabrous above. Cypsela cylindric, c. 3-5 mm long, glabrous. Pappus setae about half as long as corolla of disc, soon caducous.

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Flowering time

Recorded in January, February, March, May and July.

Distribution

KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg escarp endemic from Cathedral Peak to Giant's Castle, 1525 to 2590 m above sea level.
Known from about 15 collections.

Habitat

In shrub communities along streams, in boulder-strewn gullies, on steep slopes or valley walls.

Notes

References

ANDERBERG, A.A. 1991. Taxonomy and phylogeny of the tribe Gnaphalieae (Asteraceae). Opera Botanica 104: 50-53.
GLEN, H.F. 2004. SAPPI, What's in a Name? The Meanings of the Botanical Names of Trees. Jacana.
HENDERSON, M.D. 1961. Compositae in New and interesting taxa from southern Africa in Kirkia 1: 110-118.
HILLIARD, O.M. & BURTT, B.L. 1976. Notes on some plants of southern Africa chiefly from Natal: V. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 34,3: 260-276.
HILLIARD, O.M. 1977. Compositae in Natal. University of Natal Press.
KESTING, D. & CLARKE, H. 2008. Botanical names, what they mean. Wild Flowers of the Cape Peninsula, 3rd revised edition. Friends of Silvermine.
POOLEY, E. 2003. Mountain Flowers. A Field guide to the Flora of the Drakensberg and Lesotho. The Flora Publications Trust.
POOLEY, E. 2005. A Field Guide to Wild Flowers, Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Region. Natal Flora Publications Trust.

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