Kumara (plant)

Kumara is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the subfamily Asphodeloideae, native to the Western Cape Province of South Africa.[2][3]

For the vegetable called kumara in New Zealand English, see Kumara (vegetable).

Kumara
Fan-aloe, Kumara plicatilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asphodelaceae
Subfamily: Asphodeloideae
Tribe: Aloeae
Genus: Kumara
Medik., nom. cons.[1]
Type species
Kumara disticha

Separation from Aloe

Phylogenetic studies indicated that two species that were traditionally classed as members of the genus Aloe were genetically distinct and comprised an entirely separate clade. The species were accordingly split off as a separate genus, given the name that it had previously held, Kumara.[4]

Intergeneric hybrids have nonetheless been recorded, between Kumara and at least one other alooid genus, Gonialoe. The resulting hybrid, initially published as an infrageneric hybrid between two species of Aloe, is now designated an intergeneric hybrid of the new nothogenus × Gonimara.[5][6]

Species

Two species are accepted, as of October 2017:[1]

ImageScientific nameDistribution
Kumara haemanthifolia (Marloth & A.Berger) Boatwr. & J.C.Manning, syn. Aloe haemanthifolia[7]Western Cape, South Africa
Kumara plicatilis (L.) G.D.Rowley, syn. Aloe plicatilis[8]Western Cape, South Africa

Both species have a unique distichous ("fan") arrangement to their grey, strap-shaped leaves. Both are also indigenous to roughly the same range of mountains in the south-western corner of the Western Cape, South Africa, however the tall tree-like Kumara plicatilis is found on the lower slopes of the mountains, while the tiny stemless Kumara haemanthifolia inhabits the high peaks.

References
  1. "Search for Kumara". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  2. http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.115.2.5
  3. http://succulent-plant.com/families/aloaceae.html
  4. https://www.academia.edu/4131476/An_augmented_molecular_phylogeny_and_classification_of_Asphodelaceae_subfamily_Alooideae_towards_a_resolution_of_the_prickly_issue_of_polyphyly_in_the_alooids
  5. × Gonimara - IPNI
  6. Smith GF, Figueiredo E, Molteno S (2018) ×Gonimara Gideon F.Sm. & Molteno (Asphodelaceae): a new nothogenus name for the artificial hybrid, ×Gonimara corderoyi (A.Berger) Gideon F.Sm. & Molteno, between the alooid species Gonialoe variegata and Kumara plicatilis, two southern African endemics. Bradleya, 36, 51-58
  7. http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=7077-2
  8. http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=7077-3


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