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Aloes and Lilies of Ethiopia and Eritrea

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Reproduction<br />

Curculigo pilosa<br />

CURCULIGO Gaertn.<br />

HYPOXIS CURCULIGO 269<br />

The rhizomes are elongated <strong>and</strong> vertical, narrower than<br />

what is common in Hypoxis, <strong>of</strong>ten branched, with fleshy<br />

<strong>and</strong> contractile roots scattered more or less evenly on the<br />

rhizome. The leaves appear slightly after the first flowers,<br />

<strong>and</strong> they are three­ranked <strong>and</strong> petiolate with sheathing<br />

leaf bases; lamina linear to lanceolate, acute, plicate,<br />

prominently veined <strong>and</strong> sparsely pilose with mainly<br />

bifurcate to star­shaped whitish hairs. The scapes are<br />

short, subterranean <strong>and</strong> most <strong>of</strong>ten completely hidden<br />

by leaf remnants. The flowers are subsessile, single, <strong>and</strong><br />

supported by large leafy involucral bracts surrounding<br />

the cylindrical ovary. Between the ovary <strong>and</strong> the tepals<br />

a narrow cylindrical pilose structure, separating these<br />

organs, develops, thus pushing the tepals out <strong>of</strong> the<br />

leafy protections. This structure has been differently<br />

interpreted as a perianth tube or an ovary extension. The<br />

style is filiform to subulate with a capitate to slightly<br />

trifidous stigma. The fruits are indehiscent, more or less<br />

berry-like at maturity, crowned with the persistent ‘ovary<br />

beak’. The seeds are ellipsoidal with a hard, smooth,<br />

black, glossy seed coat, with a funicle exp<strong>and</strong>ed to form a<br />

prominent hook (the name Curculigo might be connected<br />

to this trait), plugged by a whitish tissue (‘strophiole’).<br />

The genus includes about 10 species in Tropical<br />

Africa, Asia <strong>and</strong> America.<br />

The pollination is undertaken by unspecialized insects.<br />

The seed dispersal <strong>of</strong> Curculigo is particular as they<br />

develop underground fruits <strong>and</strong> seeds. Digging animals<br />

must be responsible, but no observations are recorded. It<br />

is possible that the ‘strophiole’ may act as an elaiosome<br />

<strong>and</strong> attract ants or termites. The ovaries are protected<br />

during the development, <strong>and</strong> the ‘ovary beak’ has<br />

probably evolved to combine ovary protection with<br />

flower exposure.<br />

Curculigo pilosa (Schum. & Thonn.) Engler<br />

The species epithet refers to the indu men tum that covers<br />

the whole plant (pilosus=hairy). It was originally described<br />

on material from West Africa by Schumacher <strong>and</strong>

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