''Albuca shawii'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

ous plant from southern Africa. It flowers in the summer and has yellow flowers on stems to about 30 cm high.

Description

''Albuca shawii'' is a summer growing and winter dormant bulbous plant, flowering from September to February in its native habitat in southern Africa. It has narrow, somewhat fleshy leaves covered with short, slightly sticky hairs. The flower stems are around 30 cm tall and carry nodding flowers with tepals about 15 mm long, yellow with green stripes. The flowers are scented.

Taxonomy

''Albuca shawii'' was first described by

John Gilbert Baker John Gilbert Baker (13 January 1834 – 16 August 1920) was an English botanist. His son was the botanist Edmund Gilbert Baker (1864–1949). Biography Baker was born in Guisborough in North Yorkshire, the son of John and Mary (née Gilber ...

in 1874. The specific epithet ''shawii'' commemorates the collector, named by Baker only as "Dr Shaw", and identified elsewhere as the Scottish botanist John Shaw. Baker placed the species in a new series within the genus ''Albuca'', ''Leptostyla'', noting both its long, thin

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

and the sterile outer stamens. Along with other species of ''Albuca'', ''A. shawii'' has been placed in the genus ''

Ornithogalum ''Ornithogalum'' is a genus of perennial plants mostly native to southern Europe and southern Africa belonging to the family Asparagaceae. Some species are native to other areas such as the Caucasus. Growing from a bulb, species have linear ba ...

'' (as ''O. shawii''), but

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies have supported the separation of the two genera. The species has been synonymized with '' Albuca tenuifolia'', but this has been rejected.

Distribution and habitat

''Albuca shawii'' is native to southern Africa (the

Cape Provinces The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sout ...

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, the Free State and the

Northern Provinces The Northern Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "TVL". It includes the S ...

). It grows on cliffs and rocky grassland at elevations of 150–2400 m. Albuca shawii 150820

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15517325 shawii