Aloestrela Molteno &amp; Gideon F. Sm. 2019, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Smith, Gideon F.
name: Molteno, Steven
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Liliopsida
Asparagales
Asphodelaceae
Aloestrela

description: <i>Aloestrela</i> Molteno &amp; Gideon F.Sm., <b>gen. nov</b>. Photographer unknown. ©The National Herbarium of South Africa (PRE), South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. Reproduced with the permission of the Curator. <b>Type</b>: <i>Aloestrela suzannae</i> (Decary) Molteno &amp; Gideon F.Sm. (≡ <i>Aloe suzannae</i> Decary). Number of species: one. Diagnosis: Solitary, very large, tall-growing, single-stemmed, aloe-like perennial, reaching a height of 4m. <i>Leaves</i> erect to gracefully curved upwards, glaucous-green (Figure 4); <i>surface</i> rough to the touch, <i>margins</i> dentate; <i>apices</i> blunt-rounded. <i>Inflorescence</i> araceme, to 3m tall. <i>Flowers</i> tubular, perigone apices recurved. Description: Perennial, solitary, very large, single-stemmed, leaf succulent. <i>Stem</i> to 3–4(– 7?)m tall, up to 25cm in diameter, brown, rough, usually unbranched, less frequently branched. <i>Leaves</i> 100 × 8–10cm, amplexicaul, succulent, nu-merous, erect to gracefully curved upwards, cymbiform in cross-section, remains of old leaves persistent for a short time; <i>surface</i> dull glaucous green, roughened, lacking spots and scattered teeth, leathery; <i>margins</i> armed with small, triangular teeth; <i>apices</i> blunt- to obtuse-rounded, small-toothed. <i>Inflorescence</i> asimple, erect, densely flowered, cylindrical, brush-like raceme, to 3m tall including peduncle; <i>peduncle</i> to 1m long; <i>pedicels</i> to 30mm long; <i>bracts</i> to 15mm long, not exceeding pedicels, ± elongated-deltoid. <i>Flowers</i> 30–40(–45)mm long, with aslight basal swelling, nocturnal; <i>tepals</i> spreading to strongly recurved apically, white to creamy white, orangey pink-infused; <i>anthers</i> well-exserted, spreading fan-like beyond mouth of flower; <i>filaments</i> pinkish orange; <i>ovary</i> cylindrical; <i>ovules</i> placed almost horizontally, 24–30 per locule (Steyn &amp; Smith, 1998: 195). <i>Fruit</i> a loculicidal capsule. <i>Seed</i> shortly winged. <i>Chromosome number</i>: 2 <i>n</i> = 14 (Brandham, 1971: 387). <i>Genome size</i> (2 C /pg) 33.3 picograms (Zonneveld, 2002: 8). . Distribution: Toliara Province (formerly Toliary or Tuléar), aformer province of Madagascar (endemic). Conservation: The species is of conservation concern (Smith &amp; Swartz, 1997, 1999; Castillon &amp; Castillon, 2010: 274) and is regarded as Critically Endangered (Rakotoarisoa <i>et al</i>., 2014: 89). Etymology:The genus <i>Aloestrela</i> is named for Professor Dr Estrela Figueiredo of the Department of Botany of the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Figure 1). Estrela has a longstanding interest in succulent plants and authored or co-authored over 100 scientific papers and several books on aloes alone. The specific epithet <i>suzannae</i> commemorates Mademoiselle Suzanne Decary, daughter of Raymond Decary. Decary first described the species as an aloe (Decary, 1921: 26, foot note no. 2).
description: Published as part of <i>Smith, Gideon F. &amp; Molteno, Steven, 2019, Aloestrela Molteno &amp; Gideon F. Sm. (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), a new alooid genus with A. Suzannae (Decary) Molteno &amp; Gideon F. Sm. As the only species, pp. 3-7 in Bradleya 37</i> on pages 4-5, DOI: 10.25223/brad.n37.2019.a2, http://zenodo.org/record/7876171
description: {"references": ["BRANDHAM, P. E. (1971). The chromosomes of the Liliaceae. II. Polyploidy and karyotype variation in the Aloineae. Kew Bulletin 25 (3): 381 - 399.", "ZONNEVELD, B. J. M. (2002). Genome size analysis of selected species of Aloe (Aloaceae) reveals the most primitive species and results in some new combinations. Bradleya 20: 5 - 12.", "SMITH, G. F. &amp; SWARTZ, P. (1997). Re-establishment of Aloe suzannae in Madagascar. Part 1. The way to the Red Island. British Cactus and Succulent Journal 15 (2): 88 - 93.", "CASTILLON, J. - B. &amp; CASTILLON, J. - P. (2010). Les Aloe de Madagascar / The Aloe of Madagascar. J. - B. Castillon &amp; J. - P. Castillon, Ile de la Reunion, France.", "RAKOTOARISOA, S. E., K LOPPER, R. R. &amp; S MITH, G. F. (2014). A preliminary assessment of the conservation status of the genus Aloe L. in Madagascar. Bradleya 32: 81 - 91.", "DECARY, R. (1921 [Premier trimestre]). Etudes diverses. Etude sur le sud. Monographie du district de Tsihombe (Suite). Chapitre V Botanique. Bulletin economique de la colonie de Madagascar et Dependances 18 (1): 7 - 29 [plate of Aloe suzannae opposite p. 27]."]}