Urginea Steinh.

Martínez-Azorín, Mario, Crespo, Manuel B., Alonso-Vargas, María Ángeles, Pinter, Michael, Crouch, Neil R., Dold, Anthony P., Mucina, Ladislav, Pfosser, Martin & Wetschnig, Wolfgang, 2023, A generic monograph of the Hyacinthaceae subfamily Urgineoideae, Phytotaxa 610 (1), pp. 1-143 : 114-116

27. Urginea Steinh. in Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. sér. 2, 1: 321, t. 14 (1834)

( Figs 67–68 ).

Typus generis:— U. fugax (Moris) Steinh. (lectotype designated by Adamson 1942).

= Urginia Kunth, Enum. Pl. 4: 331 (1843) (orth. var. sensu Speta 1998).

Description:—Small bulbous geophyte. Bulb hypogeal, ovoid to subglobose, up to 3.5 cm in diam., inner scales compact, white, fleshy, outer scales pale brown, membranous. Roots thickened and branched. Leaves 4‒13 per bulb, suberect, filiform, narrowly linear, hysteranthous (sometimes leaves present at anthesis but mostly withered), 12‒40 cm long and to 2 mm wide, subterete or hemiterete, channelled, entire, green or somewhat glaucous, smooth, glabrous. Inflorescence an elongated, erect, lax raceme, with 5‒18 flowers, 1‒15 cm long; peduncle 8‒18 cm long, terete, erect, smooth and glabrous, usually flexuose below; pedicels 5‒9 mm long, suberect. Bracts narrowly lanceolate, small, ca. 1 mm long, caducous, lowermost with short spur; bracteoles absent. Flowers stellate, erect-patent, diurnal. Tepals 6, biseriate, 8‒10 mm long, free to very shortly connate at base, obovate-lanceolate, white with purple central band more evident on abaxial side. Stamens 6, spreading; filaments 6‒7 mm long, filiform, smooth, white, somewhat flattened below, very shortly adnate at base of tepals; anthers dorsifixed, with yellow pollen. Ovary ovate-oblong, 2‒3 mm long, green to yellowish. Style 5‒6 mm long, erect, white with slightly capitate stigma. Capsule ovoid-ellipsoid, 7‒10 mm long, valves completely dehiscing from base, tepals cohering and inrolled above ovary after anthesis, circumcissile from base and persisting as a cap at the top of the developing capsules. Seeds elliptic or ovate-oblong, 5‒7 mm long, flattened, with prominent embryo and flat peripheral wings, testa black, glossy, with strongly sinuous anticlinal cell walls.

Number of species and distribution:— Urginea includes 2 species from the western Mediterranean Basin, and hence restricted to the Mediterranean Region (sensu Takhtajan 1986) ( Fig. 49 ). For further species characterisation see Maire (1938) and Rico (2013).

Karyology:—2n=20 ( Talavera et al. 1995, as Urginea fugax (Moris) Steinh. var. fugax ; Talavera et al. 1995, as U. fugax var. major Litard. & Maire ex Maire ); 2n=20+0–8B ( Battaglia & Guanti 1968, as Urginea fugax (Moris) Steinh. ).

History, diagnostic characters, and taxonomic relationships:— Steinheil (1834) described Urginea to include seven species with almost free tepals and variable morphology and distribution, among them including taxa currently placed in Tenicroa and Squilla (= Charybdis , nom. illeg.). Adamson (1942) first typified the genus by U. fugax , a species restricted to the western Mediterranean Basin. Maire (1938) described U. ollivieri , a related species that, together with U. fugax , seem to form a consistent group with filiform leaves, diurnal stellate, patent to suberect flowers with free tepals and spreading filaments.

The phylogenetic study by Martínez-Azorín et al. (2023a) included four samples of Urginea fugax and U. ollivieri from Sardinia ( Italy), Ibiza ( Spain), and Morocco, that form a strongly supported clade. This clade is sister to a clade comprising six samples of Urginea noctiflora from Morocco, here accepted as Spirophyllos . Therefore, we here accept Urginea to include Urginea fugax and U. ollivieri , which share similar vegetative and reproductive characters and share the same evolutive lineage.

Accepted species:—

Urginea fugax (Moris) Steinh. in Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. sér. 2, 1: 328 (1834) ≡ Anthericum fugax Moris, Stirp. Sard. Elench. 1: 46 (1827), basionym ≡ Scilla fugax (Moris) Munby, Fl. Alger.: 36 (1847) ≡ Urginea fugax var. typica Litard. & Maire in Mém. Soc. Sci. Nat. Maroc. 26: 35 (1931), nom. inval. ≡ Drimia fugax (Moris) Stearn in Ann. Mus. Goulandris 4: 204 (1978) ( Figs 5.16 , 67–68 ). Type:— ITALY. Sardinia, M. Moris s.n. (P02166433! lecto. designated here: we consider all material in the voucher to belong to a single gathering, although not specified on the label).

= Urginea fugax (Moris) Steinh. var. major Litard. & Maire in Mém. Soc. Sci. Nat. Maroc. 26: 35−36 (1931). Type:— MOROCCO. In silva Mamora, prope Kenitra, 28 July 1824, R. Maire s.n. (MPU002403! lecto. designated here; P00083301! isolecto.).

Urginea ollivieri Maire in Bull. Soc. Hist. Nat. Afrique N. 29: 453–454 (1938) ≡ Drimia ollivieri (Maire) Stearn in Ann. Mus. Goulandris 4: 208 (1978). Type:— MOROCCO. Montagnes au dessus de Tougoumaït entre Assa et Goulimine, September 1937, Y. Ollivier 68 (MPU003972! lecto. designated here; MPU003973! syn.).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Seed morphology in Urgineoideae. 1. Tenicroa multifolia (G.J.Lewis) Oberm.; 2. Tenicroa polyantha M.Pinter et al.; 3. Tenicroa unifolia (A.V.Duthie) M.Pinter et al.; 4. Thuranthos bakeri Mart.-Azorín et al.; 5. Thuranthos macrocarpum (Stedje) Speta; 6. Thuranthos nocturnale R.A.Dyer; 7. Thuranthos pauciflorum (Baker) Mart.-Azorín et al.; 8. Triandra pellabergensis Mart.-Azorín et al.; 9. Urginavia altissima (L.f.) Speta; 10. Urginavia capensis (Burm.f.) Mart.-Azorín et al.; 11. Urginavia echinostachya (Baker) Mart.-Azorín et al.; 12. Urginavia kniphofioides (Baker) Mart.-Azorín et al.; 13. Urginavia micrantha (A.Rich.) Speta; 14. Urginavia multisetosa (Baker) Mart.-Azorín et al.; 15. Urginavia simensis (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Mart.-Azorín et al.; 16. Urginea fugax (Moris) Steinh.; 17. Urgineopsis arenosa (Adamson) Mart.-Azorín et al.; 18. Urgineopsis dregei (Baker) Mart.-Azorín et al.; 19. Urgineopsis exilis (Adamson) Mart.-Azorín et al.; 20. Urgineopsis gracilis (A.V.Duthie) Mart.-Azorín et al. All to the same scale in mm.

FIGURE 49. Approximate distribution ranges of accepted genera in Urgineoideae.

FIGURE 67. Urginea fugax (Moris) Steinh. from: 1. Steinhel (1834: t. 14); 2. Cusin (1876: pl. 23bis).

FIGURE 68. Urginea fugax (Moris) Steinh.