Hilliardiella H. Rob.
Creators: name: Swelankomo, N.
name: Manning, J. C.
name: Magee, A. R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Asterales
Asteraceae
Hilliardiella

description: 3.1. Hilliardiella H. Rob. in Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 112: 229 (1999).
Type: Hilliardiella pinifolia H. Rob., nom. illeg. = H. capensis (Houtt.) H. Rob. et al.
Webbia DC., Prodr. 5: 72 ([Oct] 1836), nom. illegit., non Spach ([Jun] 1836).
Lectotype: Webbia pinifolia DC., nom. illeg., designated by Robinson in Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 112: 229 (1999) = H. capensis (Houtt.) H. Rob. et al.
Vernonia subsect. Hilliardianae S.B.Jones in Rhodora 83: 66 (1981).
Type: Vernonia oligocephala (DC.) Sch. Bip. = H. elaeagnoides (DC.) N.Swelankomo & J.C.Manning.
Herbaceous perennials, with erect, leafy annual stems from a rhizomatous woody rootstock, roots thong-like, stems simple below, sometimes with ascending axillary branches above, striate, glandular and variously pubescent with eglandular trichomes T-shaped or Y-shaped and medifixed. Leaves alternate, sessile or shortly petioled, linear or lanceolate to cordate, margins entire or serrate to dentate, pilosepubescent or sericeous, especially on undersurface, eglandular trichomes T-shaped and medifixed. Capitula few to many in a terminal corymb or panicle. Involucre campanulate; involucral bracts in ±4 series, outer two series subulate, inner two series larger, oblong to lanceolate, acute to acuminate or mucronate, eglandular trichomes T-shaped and medifixed. Receptacle convex, epaleate. Florets bisexual, fertile, purple, rarely whitish or pink, corolla long and slender below and funnelshaped above, gland-dotted and with medifixed T-shaped trichomes in distal part and on lobes, 5-lobed, lobes linear-oblong. Anthers sagittate with ovate apical appendage. Style pilose or shortly hirsute distally and on branches. Cypselas 4- or 5-ribbed, gland-dotted and setosesericeous; pappus bi-seriate, outer series of small barbellate scales, inner series of barbellate bristles. Pollen non-lophate, echinate.
±10 spp., southern and tropical Africa; 7 spp. in southern Africa with 2 spp. endemic, restricted to the eastern half of the region and occurring mainly in grassland and open savannah, all of them softly woody, pyrophytic perennials with simple, erect stems flowering after fire (Fig. 1).
Etymology: The genus is named for Dr. Olive Mary Hilliard, expert on Asteraceae of southern Africa, particularly of KwaZulu-Natal (Hilliard, 1977).
3.2. Key to southern African species
1a. Plants rosulate with dimorphic leaves, radical leaves obovate to oblanceolate, sometimes lacking at flowering, cauline leaves distant and linear-ericoid … 4. H. nudicaulis.
1b. Plants not rosulate and leaves not dimorphic, stems more or less leafy throughout though upper leaves may be reduced:
2a. Leaves roughly hairy beneath, never silvery-silky:
3a. Upper part of stem with vestigial leaves; leaves thinly and equally hispid above and beneath, hairs prominently stalked with the arms mostly much shorter than the stalks … 3. H. sutherlandii.
3b. Stems leafy to the summit although upper leavers may be reduced in size but never vestigial; leaves thinly tomentose above and densely woolly-tomentose beneath, hairs short-stalked with the arms much longer than the stalks:
4a. Leaves sub-cordate to cordate at base; inner involucral bracts oblong-ovate, 3–4 mm long, abruptly contracted to shortly mucronate tip … 1. H. hirsuta.
4b. Leaves cuneate at base; inner involucral bracts lanceolate,
5–7 mm long, long-acuminate and gradually narrowed to apex … 2. H. fl anaganii.
2b. Leaves densely silvery-silky beneath and sometimes also above:
5a. Leaves ± equally densely silvery-silky on both surfaces or sometimes slightly less so above and leaves then weakly discolorous; inner involucral bracts lanceolate, acute to long-acuminate and bristle-tipped … 7. H. aristata.
5b. Leaves markedly discolorous, sub-glabrous or thinly hairy above and silvery-silky beneath; inner involucral bracts oblong-elliptic, abruptly mucronate or acute but never bristle-tipped:
6a. Leaves elliptic to sub-rotund, rarely with axillary tufts, usually less than, or not much more than, twice as long as broad, 5–25 mm wide, margins not revolute … 5. H. elaeagnoides.
6b. Leaves linear to linear-lanceolate and ericoid, often with axillary tufts, much longer than broad, 1–2 (–4) mm wide, margins strongly revolute … 6. H. capensis.
description: Published as part of Swelankomo, N., Manning, J. C. & Magee, A. R., 2016, The genus Hilliardiella (Asteraceae: Vernonieae) in southern Africa *, pp. 41-59 in South African Journal of Botany 106 on page 42, DOI: 10.1016/j.sajb.2016.05.010, http://zenodo.org/record/10496343