Names and synonyms

Relhania speciosa (DC.) Harvey
=Eclopes speciosa DC.
=Oedera speciosa E. Mey. ex DC, pro syn.
=Eclopes schizolepis DC.
=Relhania speciosa (DC.) Harv. var. schizolepis (DC.) Harvey
=Eclopes styphelioides DC.
=Relhania styphelioides (DC.) Harvey

Type

Drege, Genadendal, 1000-3000 ft. (G-DC, BM,G, K, L, P, PRE, S, W).

Common names

Perdekaroo

Derivation of names

Relhania = after Irish-born Richard Relhan (1754-1823), botanist, plant collector, bryologist, lichenologist, one of the founders of the Linnean Society, rector in Lincolnshire and author of Flora Cantabile.
speciosa = showy, spectacular

Diagnostic characters

Leaves rigid, recurved, pungent, smooth above, with 5-9 very distinct veins on lower surface.

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Description

Sparsely branched shrub with tall stems, 1-2 m tall. Stems long slender, leafy. Leaves rigid, grey-green, spine-tipped, 8-35 x 3-10 mm, spreading or often squarrose to recurved, distinctly 5-9-nerved, glabrous, with sparsely pilose margins. Capitula solitary, terminal, about 40 mm in diameter. Involucre widely bell-shaped, 12-30 mm wide. Involucral bracts 50-90, outer widely ovate, inner gradually longer with an oblong basal part and a spreading apical limb. Receptacle flat-convex, paleate. Paleae carinate, linear, 7-12 mm long, persistent. Ray florets 25-45, tube somewhat triquetrous, 3-6 mm long, lamina narrowly elliptic-oblong, 15-25 x 1.5-4.8 mm, dark yellow to orange, dorsally reddish to brownish purple, 4-10-veined. Disc florets 175-250, perfect. Pappus crownlike, of � connate scales, up to 1.6 mm long. Cypsela flattened, oblong, 2.8-4.2 x 0.5-0.8(-1.2) mm, glabrous or shortly hispid-pilose with longer hairs on lateral ribs.

Flowering time

Mainly from September to December.

Distribution

Grows on rocky and stony mountain slopes in the Riviersonderend Mts., Matjiesfontein, Witteberg, Swartberg and further east around Baviaanskloof (north of Kouga Mts.) towards Humansdorp and Port Elizabeth.
Known from more than 15 specimens.

Habitat

Rocky and stony mountain slopes and outcrops in Moist Protea Fynbos.

Notes

This species is the tallest and has the largest flower heads.

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References

BERGH, N. Relhania speciosa (DC.) Harv. http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantqrs/relhaniaspec.htm.
BREMER, K. 1976. The genus Relhania (Compositae). Opera Botanica 40.
GLEN, H.F. 2004. SAPPI, What's in a Name? The Meanings of the Botanical Names of Trees. Jacana.
KESTING, D. & CLARKE, H. 2008. Botanical names, what they mean. Wild Flowers of the Cape Peninsula, 3rd revised edition. Friends of Silvermine.
VLOK, J. & SCHUTTE-VLOK, A L. 2010. Plants of the Klein Karoo. Umdaus Press