Kumara

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Asphodelaceae
Subfamilia: Asphodeloideae
Genus: Kumara
Species: K. haemanthifolia – K. plicatilis
Name

Kumara Medik., Theodora: 69 (1786), nom. cons.

Type species: Kumara plicatilis (L.) G.D.Rowley, Alsterworthia Int., Special Issue 10: 3 (2013)

Synonyms

Basionym
Aloe sect. Kumara (Medik.) Baker, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 18: 155 (1880).
Homotypic
Ptyas Salisb., Gen. Pl. 76 (1866).
Heterotypic
Rhipidodendron Willd., Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Mag. Neuesten Entdeck. Gesammten Naturk. 15: 164 (1811).
Aloe ser. Haemanthifoliae A.Berger in H.G.A. Engler, Pflanzenr. IV.38 (Heft 33): 173. 1908).
Aloe sect. Haemanthifolia (A.Berger) Glen & D.S.Hardy, F. Southern Africa 5(1, 1): 23 (2000).

References
Primary references

Medikus, F.K. 1786. Theodora Speciosa: Ein Neues Pflanzen Geschlecht. 116 pp., Hof- und Akademische Buchhandlung, Mannheim. Reference page.

Additional references

Baker, J.G. 1880. Report on the Liliaceae, Iridaceae, Hypoxidaceae and Haemodoraceae of Welwitsch’s Angolan Herbarium. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London ser. 2, 1(5): 245–275. BHL Reference page.
Klopper, R.R. 2013. The correct name of Aloe plicatilis in Kumara (Xanthorrhoeaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae). Phytotaxa 115(2): 59–60. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.115.2.5 Reference page.
Grace, O.M., Klopper, R.R., Smith, G.F., Crouch, N.R., Figueiredo, E., Rønsted, N. & Van Wyk, A.E. 2013. A revised generic classification for Aloe (Xanthorrhoeaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae). Phytotaxa 76(1): 7–14. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.76.1.2 Open access ResearchGateReference page.
Manning, J.C. Boatwright, J.S., Daru, B.H., Maurin, O. & van der Bank, M. 2014. A molecular phylogeny and generic classification of Asphodelaceae subfamily Alooideae: a final resolution of the prickly issue of polyphyly in the alooids? Systematic Botany 39(1): 55–74. DOI: 10.1600/036364414X678044 ResearchGate Reference page.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2017. Kumara in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2017 Sept. 12. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2017. Kumara. Published online. Accessed: Sept. 12 2017.

Kumara is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the subfamily Asphodeloideae, native to the Western Cape Province of South Africa.[2][3]
Separation from Aloe

Phylogenetic studies indicated that two species that were traditionally classed as members of the genus Aloe were genetically distinct and comprised an entirely separate clade. The species were accordingly split off as a separate genus, given the name that it had previously held, Kumara.[4] Both species bear characteristically strap-shaped leaves in a two-ranked (orthodistichous) arrangement.[5]

Intergeneric hybrids have nonetheless been recorded, between Kumara and at least one other alooid genus, Gonialoe. The resulting hybrid, initially published as an infrageneric hybrid between two species of Aloe, is now designated an intergeneric hybrid of the new nothogenus × Gonimara.[6][7]
Species

Two species are accepted, as of October 2017:[1]

Image	Scientific name	Distribution
	Kumara haemanthifolia (Marloth & A.Berger) Boatwr. & J.C.Manning, syn. Aloe haemanthifolia[8]	Western Cape, South Africa
	Kumara plicatilis (L.) G.D.Rowley, syn. Aloe plicatilis[9]	Western Cape, South Africa

Both species have a unique distichous ("fan") arrangement to their grey, strap-shaped leaves. Both are also indigenous to roughly the same range of mountains in the south-western corner of the Western Cape, South Africa, however the tall tree-like Kumara plicatilis is found on the lower slopes of the mountains, while the tiny stemless Kumara haemanthifolia inhabits the high peaks.
References

"Search for Kumara". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.115.2.5
"The Aloe Page - Aloaceae".
Daru, Barnabas (5 February 2014). "An augmented molecular phylogeny and classification of Asphodelaceae subfamily Alooideae: Towards a resolution of the prickly issue of polyphyly in the alooids". Systematic Botany.
Molteno S (2022) "Phyllotaxis in Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae: a tool in taxon delimitation." Haseltonia 28(1), https://doi.org/10.2985/026.028.0107
× Gonimara - IPNI[permanent dead link]
Smith GF, Figueiredo E, Molteno S (2018) "×Gonimara Gideon F.Sm. & Molteno (Asphodelaceae): a new nothogenus name for the artificial hybrid, ×Gonimara corderoyi (A.Berger) Gideon F.Sm. & Molteno, between the alooid species Gonialoe variegata and Kumara plicatilis, two southern African endemics". Bradleya 36, 51-58
"Threatened Species Programme | SANBI Red List of South African Plants".
"Threatened Species Programme | SANBI Red List of South African Plants".