Ficinia anysbergensis and F. esterhuyseniae (Cyperaceae), two new species from the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa

Two new species of Ficinia Schrad. are described from the Cape Floristic Region in Western Cape Province of South Africa. Ficinia anysbergensis Muasya, restricted to mountains in the Little Karroo where it is fairly common on the Anysberg and scattered at a few other localities, is a tufted perennial with no obvious rhizome, a papery-white leaf sheath and ligule that becomes lacerated with age, and a digitate inflorescence comprising 5–7 spikelets. Ficinia esterhuyseniae Muasya, growing in crevices of sheltered rock faces at high altitude from the Cedarberg to the Langeberg mountains, is a tufted perennial with congested culms up to 100mm tall, an inflorescence of 2–7 digitate to subdigitate spikelets, and spherically-arranged glumes that increase in length from the base to the apex of the spikelets.


Introduction
The genus Ficinia Schrad. (Cyperaceae) comprises about 60 species (Goetghebeur 1998). The majority grow in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa where they are an important element of the fynbos vegetation (Clarke 1898, Levyns 1950, Archer 2000. A few species grow in northern and eastern southern Africa and in the afroalpine areas in tropical central and eastern Africa (Haines andLye 1983, Gordon-Gray 1995).
Ficinia are diagnosed by a combination of characters. They are perennial herbs, often with a papery leaf sheath and ligule, have bisexual flowers lacking perianth segments and the nutlet base often has a gynophore disk. However, a number of species lack the gynophore disk. This blurs generic boundaries between Ficinia and Isolepis, and the genus seriously needs taxonomic revision. For example, F. nodosa (Rottb.) Goetgh., Muasya and DA Simpson, previously placed in Isolepis due to the lack of a well-developed gynophore disk and a distribution in and beyond Africa, is now confirmed to belong to Ficinia, based on DNA data, but the position of several other species is still doubtful (Muasya et al. 2000and 2001, Muasya and Simpson 2002. Systematic studies are in progress to revise the taxonomy of the genus, reconstruct phylogeny and evaluate character homology.
While doing fieldwork in the CFR in 2002, specimens that did not fit the description of any of the known species were collected. Other similar specimens were placed among unidentified material in herbaria and were not previously named. These have been recognised as two new species that are described below: Ficinia anysbergensis: Muasya sp. nov., F. deusta (PJ Bergius) Levyns affinis sed spiculis 5-7 (vs 1-2), nuculis 2.2-2.4mm longis (vs 3-3.2mm longis) differt.
Phylogenetic studies of the plastid rps16 intron resolve this taxon into a clade including F. paradoxa (Schrad.) Nees and F. pinguior CB Clarke (Muasya et al. unpubl. data). Both species have a tufted habit, papery leaf sheaths and glume margins that are papery and lacerated.

Etymology
Named for the type locality.

Diagnostic features and affinities
Ficinia esterhuyseniae has morphological similarities to F. angustifolia (Schrad.) Levyns, which also grows in moist rock crevices. Both are slender plants with brownish leaf sheaths that are not lacerated, and inflorescences 15-17mm long. They differ in habit, with F. esterhuyseniae a more tufted and smaller plant with leaves longer and overtopping the culms, spikelets terete (vs flattened in F. angustifolia) and glumes 2.0-3.0(-5.2)mm long (vs 5.0-5.5mm long). Phylogenetic studies of the rps16 intron resolves the taxon in a polytomy that includes the F. angustifolia clade (Muasya et al. unpubl. data), and there is no obvious affinity to any of the known taxa.

Etymology
The specific epithet honours Miss Elsie Esterhuysen, a prolific plant collector whose material is key to understanding Ficinia.

Distribution, habitat and conservation status
Ficinia esterhuyseniae is endemic to the Western Cape, growing in crevices in sheltered overhanging rocks between 800-1 700m, distributed from the Swellendam to Clanwilliam districts. The suitable habitats are uncommon and populations at the type locality comprised less than 10 clumps of about 2cm diameter each. A search for other populations within the type locality revealed no other population. From the herbarium records the species appears to be widespread, but with the exception of the type and several other collections, the majority of the specimens were collected by Elsie Esterhuysen. Perhaps it is because of the specialised habitat and minute size that few botanical collectors have collected F. esterhuyseniae. There are no obvious threats to this species; however, little is known about the size of populations or its entire distribution.