266-299 - SABONET

COLCHICACEAE
Gloriosa superba L.
Gloriosa simplex L.
flame lily
Scrambling herb to 1.5 m, sometimes self-supporting, arising from a fleshy
whitish tuber; leaves ovate to lanceolate, base clasping the stem, apex often
elongating into a tendril; flowers unmistakable, the six petals recurved backwards
to form a goblet shape, deep red and yellow, sometimes orange or
yellow; fruit a fleshy capsule splitting to reveal red seeds; in miombo woodland,
riverine forest or in high-rainfall scrub or forest margins; flowering
mid-summer. Widespread in southern and eastern Africa.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979).
Littonia lindeni Baker
Erect herb or scrambling, arising from a tuber; leaves lanceolate, hairless;
flowers pendulous on rather long stalks, bell-shaped with 6 pointed lobes,
Aneilema hirtum A.Rich.
Aneilema ringoeti De Wild.; Aneilema whytei C.B.Clarke
Annual; leaf-blade sessile; inflorescence dense; flowers 8–10 mm wide, stamen
filaments beaded with maroon hairs. Malawi and Zambia to Tanzania,
Ethiopia, and D.R.C.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979).
Aneilema welwitschii C.B.Clarke
Aneilema densum Th.Fr.; Aneilema erectum De Wild.; Aneilema florentii
De Wild.
Roots tuberous; inflorescence dense; flowers yellow to orange, 9–14 mm
wide; in savanna. Angola to Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979).
Commelina africana L. var. africana
Perennial herb, spreading, rooting at nodes; leaves flat, glabrous; spathes
solitary; spathe margins free; flower yellow, opens only in mornings. Widespread
in Africa.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Chosi Viewpoint, 2000, Smook 10735 (PRE,
MAL).
Commelina africana L. var. lancispatha C.B.Clarke
Perennial herb, spreading, rooting at nodes; leaves folded, glabrous; spathes
solitary; spathe margins free, apex tapered; flowers yellow, opens only in
mornings. South Africa to Central Africa, uncommon in W. Africa.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, footpath to Chisanga Falls, 2000, Smook
10766 (PRE).
Commelina africana L. var. krebsiana (Kunth) C.B.Clarke
Perennial herb, spreading, rooting at nodes; leaves folded, hairy; spathes
solitary; spathe margins free, apex tapered; flowers yellow, opening only in
mornings. South Africa to Central Africa.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Fingira Rock, 2000, Willis 225 (PRE).
Commelina aspera Benth.
Annual herb, erect; leaves narrow; spathes in clusters; spathe small, sharply
pointed, reflexed, margins fused; flower yellow to white, open morning
only; grassland and savanna, sometimes in disturbed areas. Angola, Namibia,
Zambia, and Zimbabwe; E. Africa to Cameroon.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, footpath to Chisanga Falls, 2000, Smook
10767 (PRE).
Commelina benghalensis L.
Annual, spreading herb; leaves flat; leaf-sheath with long red or rarely colourless
setae at mouth; spathes clustered, spathe margins fused; flower small,
294 Plants of the Nyika Plateau
COLCHICACEAE
COMMELINACEAE
deep orange; fruit a fleshy capsule; in miombo woodland. Zambia, Malawi,
D.R.C., and Tanzania.
Source. Bolnick (1995: 63).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Mill
1979).
Wurmbea tenuis (Hook.f.) Baker subsp. goetzei (Engl.)
B.Nord.
Small erect plant 30–200 mm tall; basal leaf erect, narrowly linear-filiform,
30–200 mm long, cauline leaves not extending beyond the flowers; flowers
(perianth) 7–10 mm long, with spreading, star-like segments (petals), white
to greenish or cream, tube 0.5–1.5 mm long; in wet short montane grassland
on peaty or sandy soils; 1,200–2,300 m. Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia,
and D.R.C.
Source. Nordenstam (1978: 225).
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Lake Kaulime, 1959, Robinson 3043 (K, M, PRE).
blue, rarely white; disturbed areas. Widespread and troublesome weed;
southern Africa, tropical Africa, and Asia; naturalised in N. and S. America.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or details (Patel 1999).
Commelina bracteosa Hassk.
Commelina aspera auctt.
Perennial herb; erect to straggling or prostrate; spathes single to laxly clustered,
on peduncles; spathe margins fused; flowers blue, rarely white. Malawi
and Mozambique, up to E. Africa, Sudan, and Cameroon.
No country given. Nyika Plateau, 1967, Richards 22692 (UZL).
Commelina cecilae C.B.Clarke
Plant hairy; leaves broadly triangular, densely fringed with hairs; spathes
with margins free, flowers numerous, large, blue. Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, Makhanga, 2000, Salubeni & Mwanyambo
6755 (MAL).
Commelina sp. aff. C. grossa C.B.Clarke
(description of C. grossa) Plant nearly glabrous; spathe margins free, spathes
purple-green; flowers blue, cymes paired in spathe, upper cyme many-flowered.
Source. Determined by R.B. Faden (US)
Malawi. Nyika National Park, path to Chisanga Falls from road, 2000, Willis
34 (PRE).
Commelina neurophylla C.B.Clarke
Plant nearly glabrous; leaves often petiolate; spathe solitary, margins fused,
longitudinal veins obscure; flowers blue. Malawi and Tanzania.
Malawi. Nyika National Park; Chelinda Dam, 2000, Chapama 197 (FRIM);
path to Chisanga Falls, 2000, Smook 10766B (PRE); Fingira Rock, 2000,
Willis 229 (PRE); Dembo Bridge, 2000, Willis 24 (PRE).
Cyanotis barbata D.Don
Perennial, variable, hairy herb, easily detached corm, roots fibrous; no rosette
of leaves; flower blue, rarely mauve or white; grasslands of high altitudes.
Malawi and Zambia to E. Africa, Ethiopia, Sudan, and W. Africa;
also along the Himalayas from India to China.
Malawi. Nyika National Park; road at start of footpath to Chisanga Falls,
2000, Smook 10771 (PRE, MAL); Dembo Bridge, 2000, Willis 22 (PRE).
Cyanotis lanata Benth.
Cyanotis lanata var. rubescens (A.Chev.) Schnell; Cyanotis longifolia
sensu Berhaut, Fl. Senegal (1967: 351)
Annual or short-lived perennial herb, cotton-hairy, rarely glabrous, roots
fibrous; flowers purple, pink or white with pink; in seasonally wet places
on or near rocks, sometime in cultivated ground. S. and tropical Africa.
Malawi. Nyika National Park, without locality or collecting details (Patel 1999).