''Babiana sambucina'' 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 ...

geophyte A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy (generally in the form of carbohydrates) or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores. Plants that have ...

of high that is assigned to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Iridaceae Iridaceae is a family of plants in order Asparagales, taking its name from the irises, meaning rainbow, referring to its many colours. There are 66 accepted genera with a total of c. 2244 species worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016). It include ...

. It has dense spikes of blue to violet-coloured, often fragrant flowers. There are two subspecies, ''B. sambucina'' subsp. ''longibracteata'' is restricted to a small area in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

, ''B. sambucina'' subsp. ''sambucina'' grows in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

and

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

provinces of South Africa. Flowers are present in August and September.

Description

Babiana sambucina is a plant that emerges from a globe-shaped corm within a fibrous covering and grows to high. Each year it produces up to six, lance- to line-shaped, variably pleated, variably hairy leaf blades, at least silky at their base, which are at an angle with the leaf stalk and reach higher than the inflorescence. Each flower is subtended by two

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s, the outer bract long, slightly larger than and clasping the inner bract. Both bracts are green with rust-brown tips. The inner bracts are forked only at the tips. Sometimes both bracts are merged at their base, surrounding the ovary. The lowest outer bract is enlarged and up to long. The mostly intensely violet-scented (but sometimes scentless) flowers are clustered with few or several in dense spikes. The mirror-symmetrical

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...

consists of six tepals that are merged into a narrow tube for , funnel-shaped higher up and free near the top, the lobes long and wide and often overlapping even when fully open. The perianth does not form two obvious lips though and is blue to violet-coloured. The lower lateral

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s have a white marking in the middle that is offset by a clear or vague blue to carmine line around its perimeter and sometimes a splash of carmine down the middle. The three lower tepals may be merged up to 2 mm higher than the others. The three

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are clustered at the dorsal side of the flower, have approximately straight filaments of long and are topped by whitish

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

. The

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

is hairless, and may be on a short stalk in the lowers flower of the inflorescence. The

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 ...

branches into three arms opposite the lower two-thirds of the anthers.

Differences between the subspecies

''Babiana sambucina'' subsp. ''longibracteata'' has line-shaped leaves of wide that are covered in long, white-silky hairs, only slightly fragrant flowers or entirely scentless, with a perianth tube of long that is hollow all the way to the base, that are mostly growing individually in a sandy soil. ''Babiana sambucina'' subsp. ''sambucina'' on the other hand has variably hairy, line- to sword-shaped leaves of mostly wide, although sometimes leaves are almost like a knitting pin, strongly violet-scented flowers, with a perianth tube of {{{cvt, 30-65, mm, in long that is usually only hollow near the top, usually growing clustered in tufts on rocky soils.

Differences with similar species

'' Babiana arenicola'' has the inner bracts divided to the base, a perianth tube of about 30 mm long and a style that branches below the base of the anthers. ''B. sambucina'' has inner bracts that are only forked at the tip, a perianth tube of 35-55 mm long and a style that branches opposite the lower part of the anthers.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by

Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin (16 February 172726 October 1817) was a scientist who studied medicine, chemistry and botany. Biography Born in Leiden in the Netherlands, he studied medicine at Leiden University, then moved first to P ...

in 1797 as ''Gladiolus sambucinus'' based on an unknown collection from somewhere in the Cape area, that was illustrated in the ''Plantarium rariorum horti caesarei Schoenbrunnensis''.

John Bellenden Ker Gawler John Bellenden Ker, originally John Gawler, was an English botanist born about 1764 in Ramridge, Andover, Hampshire and died in June 1842 in the same town. On 5 November 1804 he changed his name to Ker Bellenden, but continued to sign his name a ...

in 1802 proposed to use the genus name ''Babiana'' for the species of bobbejaantjie.{{cite journal, first1= Peter, last1= Goldblatt, first2= John C., last2= Manning, first3= Roy E., last3= Gerreau, year= 2008, title= Two new species of ''Babiana'' (Iridaceae: Crocoideae) from western South Africa, new names for ''B. longiflora'' and ''B. thunbergii'', and comments on the original publication of the genus, journal=

Bothalia ''African Biodiversity & Conservation'', formerly known as ''Bothalia'' is a South African peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering the fields of botany, zoology and biodiversity, produced by the South African National Biodiversity In ...

, volume= 38, issue= 1, pages= 49-55, url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287921823_Two_new_species_of_Babiana_Iridaceae_Crocoideae_from_western_South_Africa_new_names_for_B_longiflora_and_B_thunbergii_and_com-ments_on_the_original_publication_of_the_genus In 1804, he included the species as ''Babiana sambucina'' in the

Annals of Botany ''Annals of Botany'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing experimental, theoretical and applied papers on all aspects of plant biology. The current (2022) Chief Editor is Rowan Sage, replacing John Seymour (Pat) Heslop-Harrison ...

Charles Konig Charles Dietrich Eberhard Konig or Karl Dietrich Eberhard König, KH (1774 – 6 September 1851) was a German naturalist. He was born in Brunswick and educated at Göttingen. He came to England at the end of 1800 to organize the collection ...

and John Sims. In 1882,

Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt (13 February 1825 Hamburg – 3 March 1897 Hamburg) was a German botanist who specialised in the study of African plants. As a child he showed artistic talent, but for financial reasons, training and a career in art cou ...

described ''B. undulato-venoso''. Gwendoline Joyce Lewis distinguished ''B. longibracteata'' in 1932. In 1959 however, she revised its status to ''B. sambucina'' var. ''longibracteata''. In their revision of 2007,

Peter Goldblatt Peter Goldblatt (born 1943) is a South African botanist, working principally in the United States. Life Goldblatt was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on October 8, 1943. His undergraduate studies (B.Sc.) were undertaken at the University ...

and

John Charles Manning John Charles Manning (born 1962) is a South African botanist based in the Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is an organisation established in 2004 in ...

gave it subspecies status, and included ''B. undulato-venoso'' in ''B. sambucina'' subsp. ''sambucina''.

Distribution, ecology and conservation

''Babiana sambucina'' grows in dry

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

and

renosterveld Renosterveld is a term used for one of the major plant communities and vegetation types of the Cape Floristic Region (Cape Floral Kingdom) which is located in southwestern and southeastern South Africa, in southernmost Africa. It is an ecoregion ...

in soils that developed from the erosion of sandstone, on stony outcrops, slopes and flats. ''B. sambucina'' subsp. ''sambucina'' is widespread in the interior of the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa from the

Kouebokkeveld Mountains The Koue Bokkeveld, meaning "Cold Buck Shrubland" in Afrikaans, is a mountain range in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Geologically the range is composed of Cedarberg Sandstone of the Cape System. Location and extent It is located above ...

in the west to Addo and

Uitenhage Uitenhage ( ; ), officially renamed Kariega, is a South African town in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. Along with the city of Port El ...

in the east.{{cite web, website= Red List of South African Plants, title= Babiana sambucina (Jacq.) Ker Gawl. subsp. sambucina, url= http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=1534-158 As far as known, it is pollinated by long-tongued bees, mostly larger species of the genus ''

Anthophora The bee genus ''Anthophora'' is one of the largest in the family Apidae, with over 450 species worldwide in 14 different subgenera. They are most abundant and diverse in the Holarctic and African biogeographic regions. All species are solitary, t ...

''. It's continued survival is considered to be of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

. ''B. sambucina'' subsp. ''longibracteata'' is pollinated by flies with long tongues. It is only known to occur on five locations recently. This subspecies has been observed on more locations before 1970, but the area has been rapidly transformed for rooibos cultivation in the last decennium. It will probably decline further because its habitat will continue to me lost. It is therefore considered to be

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

.{{cite web, website= Red List of South African Plants, title= Babiana sambucina (Jacq.) Ker Gawl. subsp. longibracteata (G.J.Lewis) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, url= http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=1534-159

References

{{Reflist {{Taxonbar, from=

sambucina ''Sambucina'' is a genus of fungi in the Helotiales order. The relationship of this taxon to other taxa within the order is unknown (''incertae sedis''), and it has not yet been placed with certainty into any family. This is a monotypic In b ...

Endemic flora of South Africa Plants described in 1797