Struthiola Tetralepis

''Struthiola tetralepis'' is a willowy shrublet of up to high that is assigned to the family Thymelaeaceae. It has long straight branches that are initially hairy and are covered in leaves pressed against them. These leaves are small, overlapping, lance-shaped, sharply pointed, have a regular row of hairs along the margins, and 3-5 veins are visible on the outward facing surface. It has initially greenish yellow, later reddish brown flowers, each of which consists of a tube of about long with 4 lance-shaped, pointed sepal lobes and 4 yellow alternating petal-like scales. It flowers between October and February. It can be found in the southwest of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is sometimes called cross capespray in English.

Taxonomy

This species was first described as ''Struthiola tetralepis'' by Rudolf Schlechter in 1900, based on a plant he collected himself at Franschhoek. He distinguished two varieties, ''S. tetralepis'' var. ''tetralepis'' and ''S. tetralepis'' var. ''glabricaulis''. Charles Henry Wright in 1915 considered the varieties insufficiently characterised and regarded ''S. tetralepis'' var. ''glabricaulis'' a synonym of ''S. tetralepis''.

Description

''Struthiola tetralepis'' is a willowy, single-stemmed shrublet of up to high with branches that initially have a layer of soft hairs pressed to their surface, but the hairs are lost with age. The leaves are in pairs opposing each other, initially pressed against the branches, but less so further down, overlapping each other, with the blade directly attached to the branche without a leaf stalk. They are lance-shaped, generally long and wide, somewhat depressed along the main vein, increasingly pointed towards the tip, with a row of hairs pressed to the surface along its rim when young, with 3 to 5 stripes visible along the length of the outward facing surface.

The flowers are seated in the axils of the leaves over a considerable length towards the tip of the branches, an inflorescence type called a spike. The two bracteoles are set opposite each other at the base of the flower, awl-shaped, about long, with a regular row of hairs along the margin and a blunt tip ending in a tuft of hairs.

The calyx is initially greenish yellow, later fading to brownish red, with at its base a cylindrical tube of about long that is covered on the outside with soft hairs pressed against its surface and at its top 4 lance-shaped, protracted, pointed lobes of long and wide, hairless but the outer 2 with a tuft of hairs at the tips. Four yellow, fleshy, petal-like scales are implanted above and alternating with the sepal lobes, and are surrounded by stiff hairs longer than the scales. About below the mouth of the tube sits on whorl of four seated stamens, that have a whitish wart at their tips. The ovary is egg-shaped, hairless and about 1.5 mm long, and is topped by a style of about long and ends in a brush-like stigma.

Differences with related species

''Struthiola'' has its flowers arranged in long spikes and every flower contains 4 anthers, whereas ''Gnidia'' differs from it in having its flowers in short spikes, solitary or more often in heads and anthers in 2 whorls of 4 or 5 each. Both '' Lachnaea'', ''Passerina'' and a few ''Gnidia''-species lack scales on the calyx tubes. Both '' S. striata'' and ''S. tetralepis'' have four petal-like scales implanted at the opening of the calyx tube, while the many dozens of remaining ''Struthiola'' species have eight or twelve scales. ''S. striata'' is a roundish shrub of up to 1.5 m high with cream, soft yellow or pinkish flowers ending in oval sepal lobes of 1–2 mm long and 1.5–2.5 mm wide, and a reddish wart on the tip of the anthers, ''S. tetralepis'' is a single stemmed shrublet of up to high that has initially greenish yellow, later brownish red flowers with lance-shaped sepal lobes of long and wide, and a white wart on the anthers.

Distribution, ecology and conservation

''Struthiola tetralepis'' is only known to grow on shale bands in the Hottentots Holland Mountains between Villiersdorp and Franschhoek in a vegetation type known as Cape Wineland Shale Fynbos. The continued survival of this species is considered to be of least concern because its populations are stable.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17582201

Thymelaeoideae
Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces