Researchers discover two species of bushveld arum lilies

If you think you have seen arum lilies in all their beautiful shapes, sizes and colours, you are in for a surprise: two new species were recently discovered in the Sekhukhuneland bushveld where these plants grow naturally and spectacularly.

Researchers from the NorthWest University (NWU), in collaboration with a researcher from the University of Pretoria (UP), have discovered and scientifically described new species of this indigenous group of plants that are related to pig lilies.

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The discovery of two species is especially remarkable as until this year, only one bushveld arum lily (Stylochaeton natalense) was known in South Africa and the research team has now added Stylochaeton glaucophyllum (blue bushveld arum) and Stylochaeton sekhukhuniense (Sekhukhuneland bushveld arum) to this genus of arum lilies.

The local team comprises Prof Stefan Siebert and Dr Madeleen Struwig from the NWU’s campuses in Potchefstroom and Mahikeng respectively, and Tshireletso le Roux, a botany student from the NWU’s Mahikeng Campus, with a fourth team member being Prof Braam van Wyk, a retired researcher from UP who is also an NWU alumnus and recipient of a 2015 NWU Alumni Excellence award.

What makes the collaboration between these researchers even more special is that it is based on the transfer of knowledge over many years. Van Wyk was Siebert’s study leader during his PhD studies, Siebert was in turn Struwig’s study leader and Le Roux is Struwig’s student.

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Siebert said the discovery of the two species came during geoecological research on ultramafic (metal-rich) rocks around Steelpoort in Sekhukhuneland.

The term geoecological refers to interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary science that integrates geosciences with life sciences.

“The species were previously overlooked because their flowers are two-thirds subterranean and their leaves, to the untrained eye, resemble that of the common species,” said Struwig.

He added they were always and easily mistaken for the commonly occurring bushveld arum lily, which carries its inflorescence and fruits 5cm to 10cm above ground.

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In the arum family, the beautiful “flower”, such as that of the popular calla lily, is in fact an inflorescence which is made up of tiny flowers that are clustered tightly together on a spike (called a spadix) and wrapped (or concealed in the case of the new species) by a leaf-like, coloured structure called a spathe.

These species are different because they are much smaller than the known species and their fruits are nearly entirely buried below ground. The plants also grow in harsh environments of metal-rich rocky soil, which Siebert said can explain why they are smaller

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