imported>Tom Radulovich: added Category:Taxa named by Étienne Pierre Ventenat using HotCat

2025-03-24T06:48:18Z

added Category:Taxa named by Étienne Pierre Ventenat using HotCat

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{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Felicia filifolia.jpg
|image_caption = ''Felicia filifolia'' subsp. ''filifolia''
|genus = Felicia
|parent=Felicia sect. Lignofelicia
|species = filifolia
|authority = ([[Vent.]]) [[Joseph Burtt Davy|Burtt Davy]]
|synonyms =
*''Diplopappus filifolius'' (Vent.) DC.
*''Diplostephium teretifolium'' (Less.) Nees
*''Diplopappus teretifolius'' Less.
*''Aster filifolius'' Vent.
}}

'''''Felicia filifolia''''' is a Southern African member of the family [[Asteraceae]]. It is a hardy, sprawling shrub growing to about 1 metre tall. Leaves are narrow (''filifolia'' = ''threadlike leaves'') and clustered along the twigs. When blooming it is densely covered in flowerheads with [[ray floret]]s that are pink-mauve to white and [[disc floret]]s that are yellow. In the wild, flowers can be found August to December.<ref>{{cite book|first= John|last= Manning|year= 2007|title= Field Guide to Fynbos|page= 450|isbn= 9781770072657}}</ref>

The species is widespread over mountainous areas, commonly found growing amongst rocks. It is suspected of causing haemorrhaging when ingested by sheep.<ref>''Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa'' - Watt & Brandwijk</ref>

== Naming ==
''Felicia filifolia'' is called "fine-leaved felicia", "needle-leaved felicia", or "wild aster" in English, ''draaibos'' in [[Afrikaans]] and ''sehalahala-seseholo'' in the [[Sesotho language]].<ref name=PZA>{{cite web|website= SANBI PlantZAfrica|author= Cherise Viljoen|title= ''Felicia filifolia'' subsp. ''filifolia'' |url= http://pza.sanbi.org/felicia-filifolia-subsp-filifolia}}</ref>

== Description ==
[[Image:Felicia filifolia Peter Warren 1.jpg|thumb|flower head of subsp. ''schaeferi'' showing the involucral bracts with reddish tips and the pappus]]''Felicia filifolia'' subsp. ''filifolia'' is a mostly strongly branched and woody, largely hairless, medium-sized shrub of {{cvt|60-150|cm}} high. It has a dark blackish brown, often slightly fibrous bark. The leaves are [[Leaf#Arrangement on the stem|alternately set]], clustered on [[Shoot (botany)#Shoot types of woody plants|short shoots]] or uniformly arranged on [[Shoot (botany)#Shoot types of woody plants|long shoots]], hairless or woolly only on the upper side of the leafbase. The leaves are more or less succulent, narrowly needle-shaped, {{cvt|8-30|mm}} long and approximately ½ mm (0.02 in) in diameter, usually with distinctly callous tip, more or less wrinkled, and with resin vessels on the inside.<ref name=Grau73>{{cite journal|first= J.|last= Grau|year= 1973|title= Revision der Gattung Felicia (Asteraceae)|journal= Mitteilungen der Botanischer Staatssammlung München|volume= IX|pages= 279–301|url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/295/mode/1up|access-date= 2017-11-12}}</ref>

The [[Asteraceae#Floral heads|flower heads]] are on the short shoots or at the tip of the long shoots, medium-sized, seated or on up to {{cvt|10|cm}} long [[Peduncle (botany)|stalks]]. The [[Bract#Involucral bracts|involucre]] is {{cvt|6-8|mm}} in diameter, and consists of three to four whorls of bracts. These bracts are overlapping, lance-shaped, hairless, tawny to greenish in colour with the tip often tinged red. They have a papery margin more or less set with a regular row of hairs. The outer bracts are 1½ mm (0.06 in) long and ½ mm (0.02 in) wide, those in the middle 3 mm (0.12 in) long and 1 mm (0.04 in) wide, and the inner 5 mm long and ½ mm wide. Each head has ten to fifteen female, medium or light purple, rarely white, ray florets of about 1 cm long and 1½ mm wide. These surround numerous [[Plant reproductive morphology#Terminology|bisexual]] yellow, later burgundy-washed disc florets of {{cvt|4–6|mm}} long. The two style branches each have a long triangular appendage. The [[Pappus (botany)|pappus bristles]] are numerous, yellowish white in colour, and do not detach. Although they vary in length, they do not occur in two distinct rows. The longer pappus bristles have teeth along their length and are 5–7 mm (0.2–0.28 in) long, the shorter scaly and ½–1 mm (0.02–0.04 in) long. The dry, one-seeded, [[Dehiscence (botany)|indehiscent]] fruits called [[Asteraceae#Fruits and seeds|cypselae]] are obovate to elliptic, about 4 mm (0.16 in) long and 1½ mm (0.06 in) wide, evenly silky hairy, with a brownish scaly surface when mature, and a light ochre-coloured marginal ridge.<ref name=Grau73 />

''Felicia filifolia'' subsp. ''bodkinii'' remains lower than the typical subspecies at about {{cvt|90|cm}}. The thick, succulent leaves, do not have a narrowed base, are nearly fully round in cross-section, about 2 cm long and 1 mm across, and sit alternately at regularly distances along the long shoots. Short shoots are failing or few. The relatively large floral heads have an involucre of about 10 mm in cross section, and sit at the top of the long shoots. The outer bracts are 1½ mm (0.06 in) long and ½ mm (0.02 in) wide, and the inner 5 mm long and 1.2 mm wide. Near [[Graaff Reinet]], the subspecies occurs without ray florets.<ref name=Grau-bodkinii>{{cite journal|first= J.|last= Grau|year= 1973|title= Revision der Gattung Felicia (Asteraceae)|journal= Mitteilungen der Botanischer Staatssammlung München|volume= IX|pages= 294–297|url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/312/mode/1up|access-date= 2017-11-12}}</ref>

''Felicia filifolia'' subsp. ''schaeferi'' is a low plant at a maximum of {{cvt|25|cm}}. The succulent leaves are crowded along the stem and up to 15 mm long, often spread forward and narrowed at the base. The heads are up to 10 cm long stems.<ref name=Grau-schaeferi>{{cite journal|first= J.|last= Grau|year= 1973|title= Revision der Gattung Felicia (Asteraceae)|journal= Mitteilungen der Botanischer Staatssammlung München|volume= IX|pages= 292–294|url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/309/mode/1up|access-date= 2017-11-12}}</ref>

In ''Felicia filifolia'' subsp. ''schlechteri'' the floral heads are almost exclusively on 2–10 cm long stalks. The succulent leaves are round in cross section, and longer than in the typical subspecies at 1.8–4 cm, on average 2½ cm, and are typically oriented upwards, pressed against the stem.<ref name=Grau-schlechteri>{{cite journal|first= J.|last= Grau|year= 1973|title= Revision der Gattung Felicia (Asteraceae)|journal= Mitteilungen der Botanischer Staatssammlung München|volume= IX|pages= 298–303|url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/316/mode/1up|access-date= 2017-11-12}}</ref>

''Felicia filifolia'' is a [[Ploidy#Diploid|diploid]] having nine sets of [[homologous chromosomes]] (2n=18).<ref name=Grau73 />

=== Differences between the subspecies ===
Although intermediates between subsp. ''filifolia'' and each of the other three subspecies, and between subsp. ''schaeferi'' and subsp. ''bodkinii'' are known, the subspecies are distinct even when growing at the same location.
* Subsp. ''bodkinii'' has broad [[Inflorescence#Compound inflorescences|synflorescences]], and succulent leaves of up to 2 cm long that are set evenly along the stems, including the peduncle.
* Subsp. ''filifolia'' has long synflorescences, and slender, sometimes somewhat flattened leaves of up to 3 cm long.
* Subsp. ''schaeferi'' has broad synflorescences, and succulent leaves of up to 2 cm long, set in groups, with the lower part of the peduncle crowded with leaves and the upper part almost leafless.
* Subsp. ''schlechteri'' has broad synflorescences, and succulent leaves of up to 4 cm long.<ref name=Grau73 />
[[Image:Felicia filifolia Peter Warren 2.jpg|thumb|Twig of subsp. ''schaeferi'']]

== Taxonomy ==
The fine-leaved felicia was first described by the French [[Botany|botanist]] [[Étienne Pierre Ventenat]], who named it ''Aster filifolius'' in 1804, accompanied by a colour etching<ref>{{cite book|author= Étienne Pierre Ventenat|year= 1804|page= plate 82|title= Jardin de la Malmaison, Tome 2|url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/141244#page/96/mode/1up}}</ref> in his book ''Jardin de la Malmaison'', about the plants in the [[Château de Malmaison|palace garden]] that had been designed by [[Empress Joséphine]], Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife. This [[Type (biology)#Iconotype|etching]] now serves as the [[Type (biology)|type]] for the species. In 1831, [[Christian Friedrich Lessing]] described another specimen that had been collected by [[Hinrich Lichtenstein]] between Leeuwenkraal and Ongeluksfontein, that he placed in the genus ''Diplostephium'' that had been created by [[Carl Sigismund Kunth]] in 1820, calling it ''Diplostephium teretifolium''. In 1833, [[Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck|Nees von Esenbeck]] assigned ''Aster filifolius'' to ''Diplostephium'', creating the name ''Diplostephium filifolium''. Three years later, [[Augustin Pyramus de Candolle]] not only placed Ventenat's species in ''Diplopappus'', creating ''Diplopappus filifolius'', but also recognised Lessing's specimen as distinctive, calling it ''Diplopappus filifolius β teretifolius''. In 1912, [[Joseph Burtt Davy]] assigned the fine-leaved felicia to the genus ''Felicia'', creating the name ''Felicia filifolia''. When in 1973 [[Jürke Grau]] revised the genus ''Felicia'', he distinguished four subspecies, and all names above he regarded [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonymous]] with subsp. ''filifolia''.<ref name=Grau73 />

In 1831, De Candolle also described ''Fresenia leptophylla'' based on a collection by [[Johann Franz Drège]] from the [[Cederberg]]. In 1920, [[Kurt Dinter]] described a specimen collected by [[Fritz Schaefer (plant collector)|Fritz Schaefer]] in [[Namaland]], Namibia, which he called ''Aster schäferi''. In 1973 Grau demoted this [[taxon]] to the rank of subspecies, calling it subsp. ''schaeferi''.<ref name=Grau73 />

De Candolle further described in 1836 ''Diplopappus elongatus'', based on a plant collected by Drège in the Zuureberge, which was demoted to ''Diplopappus filifolius'' var. ''elongatus'' by [[William Henry Harvey]] in 1865. In 1924, [[Robert Harold Compton]] described ''Aster schlechteri''. When Grau in 1973 wanted to assign the taxon to ''Felicia'', the oldest [[epithet]], ''elongatus'', was not available because ''Aster elongatus'' described by [[Carl Thunberg]] in 1800, is the [[basionym]] of ''Felicia elongata''. He therefore made the combination ''Felicia filifolia'' subsp. ''schlechteri''.<ref name=Grau73 /><ref>{{cite journal|first= J.|last= Grau|year= 1973|title= Revision der Gattung Felicia (Asteraceae)|journal= Mitteilungen der Botanischer Staatssammlung München|volume= IX|pages= 528|url= https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/544/mode/1up|access-date= 2017-11-12}}</ref>

In 1867 [[Harry Bolus]] described ''Fresenia fasciculata'' based on a specimen he collected in the [[Sneeuberge]] between [[Graaff-Reinet]] and [[Murraysburg]]. In 1924, [[Robert Harold Compton]] described ''Aster schlechteri''. In 1931, Compton described both ''Aster bodkinii'' and ''Felicia teres''. In 1973, Grau regarded these names synonyms and belonging to the fourth subspecies of ''Felicia filifolia'', which he named subsp. ''bodkinii''.<ref name=Grau73 />

The species is considered part of the [[Section (botany)|section]] ''[[Felicia (plant)#Lignofelicia|Lignofelicia]]''.<ref name=Grau73 />

== Distribution ==
The subspecies ''fililolia'' has a large distribution, southeast from a line between about 25° south in the east of South Africa to about 30° in the west. Subspecies ''bodkinii'' occurs from [[Namaqualand]] in the north to [[Ceres, Western Cape|Ceres]] and [[Humansdorp]] in the east. Subspecies ''schaeferi'' may be found from Namibia southwards to [[Worcester, Western Cape|Worcester]] in the west and [[Willowmore]] in the east. Subspecies ''schlechteri'' grows in the [[Karoo#Klein Karoo 2|Klein Karoo]] between Ceres in the west and [[Grahamstown]] in the east.<ref name=Grau73 />

== Conservation ==
In South Africa, the continued survival of all four subspecies of ''Felicia filifolia'' is considered to be of [[Least-concern species|least concern]] because their populations are stable.<ref>{{cite web|website= SANBI Red List of South African Plants|title= filifolia subsp. bodkinii|url= http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=3052-58}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|website= SANBI Red List of South African Plants|title= Fine-leaved Felicia|url= http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=3052-59}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|website= SANBI Red List of South African Plants|title= Draaibos|url= http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=3052-60}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|website= SANBI Red List of South African Plants|title= Felicia filifolia subsp. schlechteri|url= http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=3052-61}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/611/mode/1up line drawing of subsp. ''filifolia'']
* [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/612/mode/1up line drawing of subsp. ''schaeferi'']
* [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/613/mode/1up line drawing of subsp. ''bodkinii'']
* [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/614/mode/1up line drawing of subsp. ''schlechteri'']
* [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/696/mode/1up distribution map of subsps. ''bodkinii'' and ''filifolia'']
* [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15019162#page/697/mode/1up distribution map of subsps. ''schaeferi'' and ''schlechteri'']

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5441730}}

[[Category:Felicia (plant)|filifolia]]
[[Category:Flora of Southern Africa]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1804]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Étienne Pierre Ventenat]]

Felicia filifolia - Revision history

imported>Tom Radulovich: added Category:Taxa named by Étienne Pierre Ventenat using HotCat