1. Aspalathus chlorina C.H.Stirt. & Muasya, sp. nov. (Fig. 1)

Aspalathus sp. nov. (chlorina ms.) in Euston-Brown & Kruger, Plants of the Baviaanskloof, p.365, 2023.

Diagnosis:— Morphologically similar to the very variable species A. setacea Ecklon & Zeyher (1836: 216) from which it differs in its finely crispate young branches, slender ascending to erect, scarcely branched tail-like branches, incurved and axis hugging leaves, bright lime to lemon green foliage, flowers free from the subtending foliage, standard apex obtuse and glabrous on front, and wing petals much longer than the keel and with tips free from the keel petals. See Notes below for further explanation on the variability of A. setacea.

Type:— SOUTH AFRICA. Eastern Cape Province: Steytlerville, near top of low hill NW of Guerna, Kouga Mountains, 3324CD, [33°44’43.87”S 24°19’19.37”E], 9 February 2012, Euston-Brown 1797 (holotype BOL!; isotypes NBG!, PRE!).

Plant an erect shrub 50–80 cm tall with stiff erect somewhat incurving brush-like branches arising from near the base, colonial, reseeder. Young branches finely crispate. Leaf clusters alternate, dense but patent with shoot axis internodes, situated on leaf base tubercles covered with patent, dense white crisped hairs. Leaves intensely bright limeto lemon green coloured, slender, incurving; tips acute, erect to touching axis of branch, becoming patent at fruiting stage. Leaflets (10) 15–20 mm long, 15–18 per node, linear, terete, semi-rigid, mostly incurved, sparsely covered with fine appressed silvery hairs, tip acute, not spiny. Inflorescences 1-flowered, borne on lateral short shoots, scattered along each seasonal shoot. Flowers (8)10–11(12) mm long, all petals pale lemon yellow, well-exerted from the foliage; pedicel 1 mm long, tomentose; bract 3 mm long, linear; bracteoles minute <1 mm long, more a tuft of hairs. Calyx broadly globose-campanulate, 8–9 mm long, finely pubescent outside, shaggy inside; teeth equal, narrowly triangular, 4.0–5.0 mm long, equal, soft, acuminate; teeth sparsely sericeous, half the length of flower; tube 3.0– 3.5 mm long. Standard 11–12 × 6.5–7.0 mm, narrowly obovate to oblong-obovate, semi-reflexed at anthesis, apex obtuse not cuspidate, back hairy throughout, upper front glabrous; claw 2 mm, narrow, incurved. Wing petals 9–10–11 × 2.5–3.0 mm, much longer than the keel petals, sericeous along lower parts and sometimes on inside, tips flared but incurving towards apex, well free of keel, petal sculpturing present, comprising 5 rows of numerous small lunate costal and mostly deep transcostal pockets covering the entire surface above the hairy zone; claw 3 mm, strongly recurved and twisted. Keel petals 9 × 3 mm, blade 6.0 × 1.5 mm, tomentose over entire surface except for upper margin, auriculate, upper and lower margins convex, pocketed; claw 3.0– 3.5 mm long, ribbon-like, incurved. Androecium 8 mm long with 5 basifixed and 5 dorsifixed versatile anthers. Pistil 10 mm, long; ovary shaggy, ovules 2; style straight, glabrous. Fruit convex-lanceolate, slightly beaked, 10–11 × 4.0– 4.5 mm, short woolly, style persistent. Seeds unknown.

Etymology: —The specific epithet is from the Latin chlorinus (yellowish-green) and relates to the distinctive lime- to yellowish lemon-green colour of the leaves of this species.

Distribution and habitat: — Aspalathus chlorina is a colonial reseeder that habituates northern moderate slopes in Kouga Grassy Sandstone Fynbos (FFs28, Rebelo et al. 2006) of the Baviaanskloof Biosphere Reserve (Fig. 2). It is known from two localised populations each comprising a few hundred plants in the Kouga mountains at about 580– 600m.

Phenology: —Flowering takes place from December to February.

Conservation: —Based on the narrow distribution of this species and given the few collections it has been hard to assess its conservation status. As it is reseeding and colonial and dependent on fire for regeneration other populations may exist in this poorly explored area. No threats were evident. We have therefore assessed this species as Least Concern (LC) under the IUCN Red List categories and criteria (IUCN, 2012).

Notes: — Aspalathus chlorina is a distinctive species which falls into Dahlgren’s (1988) Group 34: Laterales. It is closest to A. setacea, a species represented by a range of different geographical form series extending from the Knysna region to as far eastwards as Komgha (Dahlgren 1963, 1965). This species complex, as currently delimited (Dahlgren, 1963, 1988), varies extremely in leaf length (2–15 mm), floral structure, calyx lobe length (1–8 mm), length of the apical vexillar cusp (0–1.5 mm), habit, and pubescence of the leaves. As Dahlgren has pointed out, the distinguishable races are each typical of a limited region. Based on the limited material available to him when he revised the genus it seemed to him that these races appeared to merge even though they keyed out at four different couplets. However, with many more collections now available, and following extensive fieldwork, it is becoming possible to recognise several quite distinct taxa of which this outlier species is one.

Aspalathus setacea, as represented by the lectotype (Ecklon & Zeyher 1462), differs from A. chlorina in its variable sparsely to densely branched habit of either large shrubs or small tangled shrubs, but never with tail-like branches, its short villous to woolly to sericeous young branches, dull-green or silvery foliage, flowers well free or enclosed within the foliage, standard with a straight apex or with a tip, shortly sericeous on the apical marginal parts, rarely glabrous, and wing petals shorter than keel petals or, if longer, then clasping the sides of the keel.

Additional specimens examined: — SOUTH AFRICA. Eastern Cape, 3324 (Steytlerville): Koppie to the west of Guerna, 16 February 2016, Euston-Brown 4560 (BOL).