A revision of Fumariaceae (Fumarioideae) in southern Africa, including naturalized taxa

Abstract

The native and naturalized species of Fumariaceae in southern Africa are reviewed, and keys and full descriptions are provided. All relevant regional synonyms are given and the indigenous species are illustrated. Three native genera with four species are recognized. The previously taxonomically unplaced genus Cysticapnos Mill. (3 spp.) is included with two other monotypic native South African genera, Discocapnos Cham. & Schltdl. and Trigonocapnos Schltr., in an enlarged circum­scription of subtribe Discocapninae, which is morphologically defined by tendrilliferous leaves and mostly sessile racemes with the lowermost flower basal. Two subspecies are recognized in Cysticapnos vesicaria (E.Mey. ex Bemh.) Lidén, subsp. vesicaria with fewer, smaller flowers and subsp. namaquensis J.C.Manning & Goldblatt for plants from Namaqualand with more numerous, often larger flowers. C. parviflora Lidén appears to be nothing more than a dwarf-fruited form of C. vesicaria, in which heterocarpy has long been known. C. pruinosa (E.Mey. ex Bemh.) Lidén is recorded for the first time to be a short-lived perennial and not an annual, thus unique in the tribe Fumarieae. Discocapnos mundii var. dregei Harv. from the southern Cape is treated as subsp. dregei (Harv.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt on account of its slightly smaller fruits and significant geographical disjunction from subsp. mundii. Three introduced species are included, Fumaria capreolata L., F. muralis Sond. ex W.D.Koch subsp. muralis and F. parviflora Lam. var. parviflora, although only the last two appear to be truly naturalized.