Killickia grandiflora


Killickia grandiflora is a rare species of bergmint. It is endemic to South Africa′s KwaZulu-Natal province, where it grows in montane grassland around Cathedral Peak at about altitude. Occupying a reduced area of less than, it is vulnerable to poor fire management and encroachment by invasive plant species, and is listed as Vulnerable by SANBI.

Description

Killickia grandiflora is a perennial, aromatic herb with decumbent shoots long arising from the base. The shoots are sparsely branched and spread by underground runners, which may become thickened into a tuber-like structure from which several shoots emerge. Stems often bear small branchlets in the axils of the lower leaves.
The leaves are subsessile or borne on short petioles up to long. They are ovate to heart-shaped, measuring long and wide, with serrated margins bearing 4–8 teeth. They are reported to have a sharp mentha-like scent.
Flowers are usually solitary; only rarely do small, leafy cymes with up to four flowers develop from the axils of the bracteoles. The peduncles are long, with two bracteoles in the distal half, and the pedicels measure. The bracteoles resemble the leaves and are relatively large.
The calyx is long at flowering and expands to in fruit. It is slightly bell-shaped, 15-veined, with five triangular to lance-shaped teeth that are as long as or longer than the calyx tube.
The corolla is pale to deep cobalt violet and relatively large, measuring in length. The corolla tube is long, narrow and cylindrical at the base and widening towards the throat. Two ridges run along the lower inner surface of the tube. The upper lip is shallowly notched and slightly reflexed, while the lower lip is three-lobed, with a notched central lobe and lateral lobes that may be notched or entire.
The stamens are unequal in length, with the upper pair longer than the lower; the anther cells are parallel and bear small yellow glandular structures on the connective. The style is long, with two unequal, pointed stigma lobes.
The fruit consists of nutlets measuring approximately.