Micromorphology and cytology of Prototulbaghia siebertii, with notes on its taxonomic significance

Abstract

Four genera of the Alliaceae are known to occur in sub-Saharan Africa, in total comprising 35 indigenous and two naturalized alien species (Table 2) (Archer 2003; Klopper et al. 2006). Tulbaghia L. is the most diverse and widespread genus of the family in southern Africa, but the other two indigenous sub-Saharan genera, Allium L. and Prototulbaghia Vosa, are each represented by a single restricted-range species, of which the latter has only been described recently (Vosa 2007). This note supplements the existing description of P. siebertii Vosa, which is endemic to the Sekhukhuneland Centre of Endemism (Van Wyk & Smith 2001), South Africa (Vosa et al. 2011), where it is restricted to the summit of the Leolo Mountain Range, Limpopo Province. Although macromorphological characters of Prototulbaghia have been documented by Siebert et al. (2008), little is known about the micromorphology and cytology of P. siebertii.