{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |taxon = Daubenya |image = Daubenya aurea var coccinea2.jpg |image_caption = ''Daubenya'' ?''marginata'' in cultivation in Japan |authority = Lindl.<ref name=WCSP_304026/> |type_species = ''Daubenya aurea'' |synonyms = *''Androsiphon'' {{small|Schltr.,1924}} *''Neobakeria'' {{small|Schltr., 1924}} *''Amphisiphon'' {{small|W.H.Baker, 1936}} }}

'''''Daubenya''''' is a genus of bulbous flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae (also treated as the family Hyacinthaceae).<ref name=APweb_Scilloideae>Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards), "[http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/orders/asparagalesweb.htm#Hyacinthaceae Asparagales: Scilloideae]", ''Angiosperm Phylogeny Website'', retrieved 2013-03-28</ref> It is native to the Cape Province of South Africa.<ref name=WCSP_304026>{{Citation |contribution=Daubenya|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=304026 |accessdate=2013-03-28}}</ref>

At first believed to consist of a single species, ''Daubenya aurea'', the genus was expanded in 2000 to include the genera ''Androsiphon'' and ''Amphisiphon'' and various species that had previously been classified as ''Polyxena'', ''Massonia'', or ''Neobakeria''. ''"The poor congruence between morphological and other characters within Hyacinthaceae has also made generic circumscriptions very difficult. One of the consequences of this has been the recognition of a large number of genera that are poorly defined morphologically."''- (Speta 1998)

==Description==

Species of ''Daubenya'' grow from bulbs covered with a brownish tunic. Each bulb produces only two leaves, which appear with the flowers and normally spread out along the ground on either side. The inflorescence is a raceme, usually very condensed and close to the ground. Individual flowers are white, pink, yellow or red, sometimes with the tepals furthest from the flowering stem (i.e. on the outside of the inflorescence) larger than the others. The tepals are fused at the base forming a distinct tube. The stamens arise from the mouth of this tube, and are often very prominent. The more or less globe-shaped black seeds are produced inside a papery capsule.<ref name=eMon_304026>{{Citation |title=''Daubenya'' Raf. |url=http://zoo-bclark01.zoo.ox.ac.uk/taxon/urn:kew.org:wcs:taxon:304026 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419163826/http://zoo-bclark01.zoo.ox.ac.uk/taxon/urn:kew.org:wcs:taxon:304026 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 19, 2013 |accessdate=2013-03-28 |work=eMonocot }}</ref><ref name=PBS_Daubenya>{{Citation |title=''Daubenya'' |publisher=Pacific Bulb Society |url=http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Daubenya |accessdate=2013-03-29 }}</ref>

Species are variously pollinated by bees, butterflies, moths, the monkey beetle ''Lepisia glenlyonensis''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=http://www.sanbi.org/creature/monkey-beetle}}</ref> and sunbirds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pacific Bulb Society {{!}} Daubenya |url=https://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Daubenya |access-date=2020-07-27 |website=www.pacificbulbsociety.org}}</ref> The water-retaining nature of doleritic clays ensures their remaining moist for longer than clays formed from shales of the Karoo series. Exceptionally, ''D. namaquensis''is, is found in deep red sands and ''D. zeyheri'' in calcareous coastal sands.

There is no formal conservation policy for ''Daubenya'' species and their future prospects remain bleak. Cultivated bulbs of ''D. aurea'' are on offer at commercial nurseries, though all the species are worthy of cultivation for their bright and often fragrant flowers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Login |url=http://www.abcjournal.org/index.php/ABC/article/viewFile/478/419}}</ref>

==Species== {{As of|2013|March}}, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognized eight species:<ref name="WCSP_Daubenya">Search for "Daubenya", {{Citation |title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/ |accessdate=2013-03-28 }}</ref> All but ''D.&nbsp;aurea'' were transferred to the genus ''Daubenya'' during revisions of the South African members of the Scilloideae in early 2000s; they were previously placed in ''Androsiphon'', ''Amphisiphon'', ''Polyxena'', ''Massonia'', or ''Neobakeria''.<ref name=MannGoldFay04>{{Citation |last1=Manning |first1=J.C. |last2=Goldblatt |first2=P. |last3=Fay |first3=M.F. |year=2004 |title=A revised generic synopsis of Hyacinthaceae in Sub-Saharan Africa, based on molecular evidence, including new combinations and the new tribe Pseudoprospereae |journal=Edinburgh Journal of Botany |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=533–568 |doi=10.1017/S0960428603000404 |name-list-style=amp |doi-access=free }}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Scientific name !! Distribution |- |120px ||''Daubenya alba'' <small>A.M.van der Merwe</small>||Northern Cape Province. |- |120px ||''Daubenya aurea'' <small>Lindl.</small>||South Africa |- |120px ||''Daubenya capensis'' <small>(Schltr.) A.M.van der Merwe & J.C.Manning</small> (syn. ''Androsiphon capensis'' <small>Schltr.</small>)|| northwest Cape |- | ||''Daubenya comata'' <small>(Burch. ex Baker) J.C.Manning & A.M.van der Merwe</small> (syn. ''Massonia comata'' <small>Burch. ex Baker</small>)||Free State, Northern Cape and the North Eastern parts of Western Cape |- |120px ||''Daubenya marginata'' <small>(Willd. ex Kunth) J.C.Manning & A.M.van der Merwe</small> (syn. ''Massonia marginata'' <small>Willd. ex Kunth</small>)||northwest Cape. |- | ||''Daubenya namaquensis'' <small>(Schltr.) J.C.Manning & Goldblatt</small> (syn. ''Neobakeria namaquensis'' <small>Schltr.</small>)||Namaqualand. |- |120px ||''Daubenya stylosa'' <small>(W.H.Baker) A.M.van der Merwe & J.C.Manning</small> (syn. ''Amphisiphon stylosus'' <small>W.H.Baker</small>)||Bokkeveld Plateau. |- |120px ||''Daubenya zeyheri'' <small>(Kunth) J.C.Manning & A.M.van der Merwe</small> (syn. ''Massonia zeyheri'' <small>Kunth</small>)||South Western Cape. |- |}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Daubenya|''Daubenya''}} *{{Wikispecies-inline|Daubenya|''Daubenya''}} * {{Citation|title=Log 9 22nd Nov 2007 |work=Wisley Alpine Log |last=Cumbleton |first=Paul |publisher=Scottish Rock Garden Club |url=http://www.srgc.org.uk/wisley/2007/221107/log.html |accessdate=2013-03-29 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412202724/http://www.srgc.org.uk/wisley/2007/221107/log.html |archivedate=2013-04-12 |url-status=dead }} – photographs of six species * {{Citation |title="Daubenya" |publisher=Pacific Bulb Society |url=http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Daubenya |accessdate=2013-03-29 }} – photographs of seven species

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Category:Daubenya Category:Asparagaceae genera