Notes on the systematics and nomenclature of Tritonia (Iridaceae: Crocoideae)

Abstract

Study of some early types of species now known to belong to the genus  Tritonia Ker Gaw l.. a member of Iridaceae. sub­
family Crocoideae, comprising some 28 species of southern and south tropical Africa, has shown the need for some nomen-
clatural adjustments. Ixia undulata Burm.f. (1768) is an earlier name for T. crispa (L.f.) Ker Gawl. based on Gladiolus crispus
L.f. (1782) and the combination  T. undulata (Burm.f.) Baker must be used for the species, which is native to the western half
of Western Cape, South Africa. The variety  T. crispa var. parx iflora is also reduced to synonymy. The type specimen of Ixia
gladiolaris Lam. (1789), currently considered a synonym of Tritonia securigera (Aiton) Ker Gawl.. has flowers that lack the
characteristic tooth-like ridges on the lower tepals of the latter, and corresponds closely to the eastern southern African  T.  
lineata (Salisb.) Ker Gawl., based on Gladiolus lineatus Salisb. (1796). The new combination  T. gladiolaris (Lam.) Goldblatt
& J.C. Manning is made and  T. lineata is reduced to synonymy.  Montbretia lacerata and  Tritonia lacerata. erroneously
regarded as synonyms of T. crispa, are combinations based on Gladiolus laceratus Burm.f., a species that remains unidenti­
fied because no type is known and the description is too vague to permit its identification. Lastly, field studies have shown
that the cnsped-leaved T. watermeveri is connected by a series of morphological intermediates to typical  T. securigera. which
has straight leaves and identical flowers. The new combination  T. securigera subsp. watermeveri (L.Bolus) J.C.Manning &
Goldblatt is proposed for this taxon.