Kumara (plant)
{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{For|the vegetable called kumara in New Zealand English|Kumara (vegetable)}}
{{Cleanup bare URLs|date=August 2022}}
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{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Aloe plicatilis 2006 06 09.jpg
| image_caption = Fan-aloe, Kumara plicatilis
| taxon = Kumara
| authority = Medik., nom. cons.
| subdivision_ranks =
| subdivision =
|type_species =Kumara disticha
}}
Kumara is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the subfamily Asphodeloideae, native to the Western Cape Province of South Africa.http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.115.2.5{{Cite web|url=http://succulent-plant.com/families/aloaceae.html|title = The Aloe Page - Aloaceae}}
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.{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/4131476|title = An augmented molecular phylogeny and classification of Asphodelaceae subfamily Alooideae: Towards a resolution of the prickly issue of polyphyly in the alooids|journal = Systematic Botany|last1 = Daru|first1 = Barnabas| date=5 February 2014 }} Both species bear characteristically strap-shaped leaves in a two-ranked (orthodistichous) arrangement.[https://bioone.org/journals/haseltonia/volume-28/issue-1/026.028.0107/Phyllotaxis-in-Asphodelaceae-subfam-Alooideae--A-Tool-in-Taxon/10.2985/026.028.0107.short Molteno S (2022) "Phyllotaxis in Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae: a tool in taxon delimitation." Haseltonia 28(1), https://doi.org/10.2985/026.028.0107]
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 {{Nothogenus|Gonimara|linked}}.{{Cite web |url=http://cfe.uc.pt/profile/publications/1699 |title=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 |access-date=2018-09-06 |archive-date=2018-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906195444/http://cfe.uc.pt/profile/publications/1699 |url-status=dead }}
Species
Two species are accepted, {{as of|2017|October|lc=yes}}:
| class="wikitable" | ||
| Image | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|
| 120px | Kumara haemanthifolia (Marloth & A.Berger) Boatwr. & J.C.Manning, syn. Aloe haemanthifolia{{Cite web|url=http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=7077-2|title=Threatened Species Programme | SANBI Red List of South African Plants}} | Western Cape, South Africa |
| 120px | Kumara plicatilis (L.) G.D.Rowley, syn. Aloe plicatilis{{Cite web|url=http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=7077-3|title=Threatened Species Programme | SANBI Red List of South African Plants}} | 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
{{Commons category|Kumara (Xanthorrhoeaceae)}}
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite web |title=Search for Kumara |work=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/qsearch.do?plantName=Kumara |access-date=2017-10-14 |archive-date=2018-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013014901/http://wcsp.science.kew.org/qsearch.do?plantName=Kumara |url-status=dead }}
}}
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{{Asphodelaceae-stub}}