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Afrikaanse Inligting
What is the latest on Se acrocarpa?
John Rourke is still not
telling - we must wait for his paper which should appear later this year. From what I can
gather, the situation is as follows.
There is a mix-up in the taxonomy. The scientific name Se acrocarpa should be applied to what we are atlassing as Se dodii - the silver form which atlassers confuse most easily with Se peduncularis. This is the erect form with silver flowerheads found from Genadendal to Voelvlei. This cannot be confused with true Se dodii: with yellow flowerheads and shorter leaves (as in SASOL Proteas plate 38), which occurs in the Hex River and Keerom Mountains.
The illustrated Se acrocarpa in SASOL Proteas (plate 39) is to be split into two species: one with spindle-shaped styles and one with rounded styles. There are also naming problems here (an older name, which cannot be allocated as it is already in use - as a synonym - in the genus), which John has resolved. One species occurs mainly on the flats of the Ruens (Greyton to Swellendam), and the other is apparently confined to the southern slopes of the Langeberg. It appears that John is assigning the Potberg form to the flats species, but this is speculation on my part.
Please continue to atlas the above species as we have in the past:
* The non-resprouting forms as Se dodii, and,
* The resprouting forms as Se acrocarpa. As soon as we have John's revision we
shall mount trips to assign the new names to our records.
Tony Rebelo
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