Ronell R. Klopper

Ronell R. Klopper
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Ronell verified their affiliation via an institutional email.
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Ronell verified their affiliation via an institutional email.
South African National Biodiversity Institute · Foundational Research & Services Directorate Foundational Biodiversity Sciences Division

PhD (Plant Taxonomy)

About

135
Publications
134,826
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1,163
Citations
Introduction
South African National Plant Checklist Coordinator and Plant Taxonomist, SANBI. Curates Asphodelaceae, Pteridophyta & Lycopodiophyta at National Herbarium (PRE). Co-coordinated African Plant Checklist & Database in collaboration with CJB Geneva, Switzerland. Managed Aloes of the World Project. Nomenclature Committee for Vascular Plants. Editorial board Flowering Plants of Africa and Bothalia ABC. Novon Associate Editor. Phytotaxa Section Editor. Nomenclature Specialist CITES Plants Committee.
Additional affiliations
October 2006 - present
South African National Biodiversity Institute
Position
  • Senior Scientist and South African National Plant Checklist Coordinator
January 2022 - present
University of Pretoria
Position
  • Research Associate
October 2003 - September 2006
South African National Biodiversity Institute
Position
  • Senior Scientist
Education
March 2011 - November 2015
University of Pretoria
Field of study
  • Plant Science
January 1996 - November 2000
University of Pretoria
Field of study
  • Botany (Taxonomy)
January 1995 - December 1995
University of Pretoria
Field of study
  • Botany (Taxonomy)

Publications

Publications (135)
Book
Full-text available
Ferns of Southern Africa (covering South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia) substantially revises and expands on an earlier treatment of the topic by John Burrows. This comprehensive guide is user-friendly and accessible, and throws new light on a fascinating category of plants that is little known to the general public. It will enab...
Article
Full-text available
The predominantly southern African Xanthorrhoeaceae subfam. Asphodeloideae (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae) has long been regarded as comprising seven so-called alooid genera (Aloe, Astroloba, Chortolirion, Gasteria, Haworthia, Lomatophyllum, Poellnitzia). A reassessment of the classification of the traditionally broadly circumscribed genus Aloe,...
Article
Overcoming the challenges involved in computerizing herbarium specimens.
Article
Full-text available
To support the work of the Global Conservation Consortium for Erica and update the Erica checklist in the World Flora Online (WFO), we have curated the taxonomic backbone in the WFO by expanding it to include updated nomenclatural information from the International Plant Name Index, missing names present in the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (W...
Article
Full-text available
Angiosperms are the cornerstone of most terrestrial ecosystems and human livelihoods1,2. A robust understanding of angiosperm evolution is required to explain their rise to ecological dominance. So far, the angiosperm tree of life has been determined primarily by means of analyses of the plastid genome3,4. Many studies have drawn on this foundation...
Article
Full-text available
Taxonomic research and resultant checklists play a crucial role in underpinning all biodiversity research. Compiling an inventory of plants that occur in a region or country is a complicated task that can be subject to errors and incompleteness, which in turn can hinder other fields of botanical research. South Africa has put in place a rigorous an...
Article
Until 1987, Aloe mutans (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae) was accepted as a distinctive species of maculate aloe from South Africa’s Limpopo province. However, this species thereafter often has been included in the synonymy of A. greatheadii var. davyana. Recently, A. davyana was separated from A. greatheadii at the rank of species, which requires...
Article
Three species of Aloe, namely A. arborescens, A. maculata, and A. vera, have been formally recorded as naturalised in the region covered by the Flora iberica project, which includes the Iberian Peninsula [Portugal and Spain] and the Balearic islands [an archipelago of islands and islets off the east coast of Spain, in the western Mediterranean Sea]...
Article
Aloe sect. Purpurascentes, or the speckled aloes (not to be confused with the maculate aloes, which are members of A. sect. Pictae), occurs in southern and western South Africa and southern Namibia. This section is here revised using macro-morphology, seed morphology, palynology, chemistry, and molecular evidence. Seed morphology, palynology, chemi...
Article
In recent years the poaching of, especially, succulent plants from the wild in South Africa has developed into an enormous, illegal industry, with the number of such plants confiscated increasing annually by over 250%. It has been estimated that more than 1.5 million plants have been illegally removed from the wild in the past three years. This con...
Article
We show that Aloe immaculata and A. affinis (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae) are two different species. Aloe immaculata, a Limpopo province, South Africa, endemic, is therefore reinstated and treated as distinct from A. affinis, an endemic of the eastern, mainly Drakensberg escarpment in Mpumalanga, South Africa, and southeastern Limpopo, and nort...
Article
A red- and several yellow-flowered variants of Aloiampelos tenuior (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), a species of scrambling aloe, are well known, including in cultivation, and apart from the autonymic variety, at least four others have been given taxonomic recognition at that rank. The yellow-flowered varieties of A. tenuior are predominantly, bu...
Article
Aloe longibracteata (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), a South African endemic aloe, which in the past has been regarded as belonging in the synonymy of A. greatheadii var. davyana, is reinstated as an accepted species. It differs from A. davyana var. davyana, which recently has been separated from A. greatheadii, in several reproductive morphologi...
Article
The conservation status of Aloe davyana, A. davyana var. subolifera, and A. labiaflava (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae) is discussed. These three taxa were recently reinstated as accepted species (A. davyana and A. labiaflava), with A. davyana var. subolifera included as the only non-autonymic variety in A. davyana. Of these three aloes, the auton...
Article
Aloe ×selmarii (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), a hybrid between A. davyana var. davyana and A. parvibracteata, is described. Although the natural distribution ranges of the parent species do not overlap, this nothospecies is often encountered as a result of the cultivation of A. parvibracteata outside its natural range, in areas where A. davyana...
Article
Full-text available
Updated country and regional plant checklists for southern Africa have been available for several decades. These form the backbone of foundational and applied biodiversity-related processes, e.g., herbarium specimen curation, conservation assessments, and biodiversity policy and planning activities. A plant taxonomic backbone for South Africa has b...
Article
The little-known Aloe labiaflava (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), which has for long been regarded as a hybrid between A. davyana and A. longibracteata, is reinstated as an accepted species endemic to a small area in the western Mpumalanga province of South Africa. It differs from both A. davyana and A. longibracteata in several reproductive morp...
Article
Full-text available
The genus Aloiampelos was established in 2013 to accommodate the scrambling aloes. Aloiampelos ciliaris is one of seven species in this genus. Its history, taxonomy, relationships, cytology, ecology, distribution and cultivation are discussed. This species is endemic to the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The paper is illustrated with a wate...
Article
Following the reinstatement of Aloe davyana Schönland (1905: 288) (Fig. 1A) as an accepted taxon at the rank of species, rather than at that of variety under A. greatheadii Schönland (1904: 121) (Smith et al. 2020), we here reinstate A. davyana var. subolifera Groenewald (1939: t. 732). Aloe davyana var. subolifera was accepted by all aloe research...
Article
Aloe davyana (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), a winter-flowering aloe that is endemic to the north-central interior of South Africa, is reinstated at the rank of species based on plant size, clumping habit, leaf colour and ornamentation, inflorescence architecture, and several flower characters. In the past it was sometimes treated as A. greathea...
Article
While revising the southern African species of Pelargonium L’Hér. in Aiton (1789a: 417) sect. Peristera De Candolle (1824: 654) (Le Roux 2019), it was found that two names are in circulation for a single species. This matter was not addressed in the revision by Le Roux (2019) as P. althaeoides (Linnaeus 1753: 679) L’Hér. in Aiton (1789a: 420) was m...
Article
Full-text available
The KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa has a varied topography, geology and climate and presents diverse habitats that support a rich and diverse flora. Aloes are well represented in KwaZulu-Natal, with four genera [ Aloe L., Aloiampelos Klopper & Gideon F.Sm., Aloidendron (A.Berger) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. and Aristaloe Boatwr. & J.C.Manning] a...
Article
As part of a revised generic classification of Aloe Linnaeus (1753: 319) sensu lato (Grace et al. 2013), Aloidendron (Berger 1905: 56) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. in Grace et al. (2013: 9) was established to accommodate six tree aloe species that Berger (1905) previously placed in two sections, Aloe sect. Aloidendron Berger (1905: 56) and A. sect. Draco...
Article
Full-text available
Background: The correct author citation of Oxalis sonderiana (Kuntze) J.F.Macbr. and the validity and identity of the species Oxalis beneprotecta R.Knuth, Oxalis bullulata T.M.Salter and Oxalis pulchella Jacq. var. beneprotecta (R.Knuth) T.M.Salter are unclear. Objectives: To resolve the nomenclatural and taxonomic confusion surrounding these four...
Article
Full-text available
Background: A Nomenclature Section meeting to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants is held every six years, a week before the International Botanical Congress. Objectives: To report on some of the outcomes of the Nomenclature Section of the XIXth International Botanical Congress that was held in Shenzhen, China,...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
A Flora provides taxonomic and descriptive information for all plants within a defined geographic region. It is traditionally compiled by one to several contributors and published in hard copy volumes. Floras often take long to complete and quickly become outdated with difficulty of publishing updated versions. However, with the availability of ele...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
A national species checklist is an essential foundational resource for a range of research and biodiversity-related activities. South Africa has long had the benefit of updated plant checklists underpinning botanical research. The South African Government mandated the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) to co-ordinate taxonomy in...
Article
The Species Plantarum Programme: Flora of the World (SPPFW) has been in existence for slightly more than two decades and during this time published basic taxonomic information for just over 1000 species, in 11 families. While an admirable initiative, at this pace it will take about 350 years to reach completion. At the 10th Conference of the Partie...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Biannual Council meetings are held with the aim of developing a World Flora Online (WFO) in response to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (2011–2020).Objectives: To report on the sixth WFO Council meeting held in Pretoria, South Africa, on November 2016.Method: A WFO Council meeting (preceded by Taxonomic and Techni...
Article
Full-text available
Taxonomy provides a universal method to classify biodiversity at different scales locally and globally. Currently, existing taxonomic treatments are scattered, limiting their accessibility and utility. The Convention on Biological Diversity has responded to this challenge by setting the goal of compiling a World Flora Online (Global Strategy for Pl...
Conference Paper
A total of about 400 000 species of vascular plants are known worldwide with some speculating at least another 50 000 are yet to be discovered. Information on these known species is often difficult to access but may hold the key to support the needs of society through development of healthy communities and ecosystems, effective conservation and man...
Article
The natural hybrid between Aloe arborescens Mill. and A. chortolirioides A.Berger var. chortolirioides (Asphodelaceae) is here formally described as a nothospecies, A. ×inopinata Gideon F.Sm., N.R.Crouch & Oosth. The hybrid occurs at Kamhlabane, about 37 km [22 miles] east of Barberton, as well as at Twello 373JU in the Barberton district, Mpumalan...
Article
Full-text available
Aloe candelabrum A.Berger (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), a stately, single-stemmed species from the KwaZulu-Natal province in eastern South Africa, which had been included in the synonymy of A. ferox Mill. for some years, is reinstated. The entire distribution range of A. candelabrum falls within the Maputoland-Pondoland Region of Endemism on the east...
Article
Haworthiopsis was established in 2013 to accommodate the species formerly classified under the subgenus Hexangulares of the genus Haworthia. This new genus is near-endemic to South Africa and found in most of the provinces of the country. It is also known from southern Namibia, Swaziland and possibly Mozambique. A total of 18 species are currently...
Article
Full-text available
Plants matching the concept for Aloe monteiroae Baker, for long considered as an imperfectly known species, have been discovered at Komatipoort, about 50km west of the type locality. Observations in situ and in subsequent cultivation reveal a remarkable plasticity of leaf and inflorescence form, including the production of short, simple racemes. We...
Article
Full-text available
Aloe vera supports a substantial global trade yet its wild origins, and explanations for its popularity over 500 related Aloe species in one of the world's largest succulent groups, have remained uncertain. We developed an explicit phylogenetic framework to explore links between the rich traditions of medicinal use and leaf succulence in aloes. The...
Article
Full-text available
The island of Madagascar harbours 128 species (161 taxa) of Aloe L., which are all endemic to this biodiversity hotspot. Most Malagasy aloes have very restricted distribution ranges and are represented by small populations. Madagascan aloes are very popular in horticulture and an important part of the ornamental plant export industry. The aloes of...
Article
Full-text available
Aloe barbertoniae Pole-Evans, which has previously been included in the synonymy of A. greatheadii Schönland var. davyana (Schönland) Glen & D.S.Hardy, is here reinstated. This species is adapted to the subtropics of northeastern South Africa where it occurs in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces. It can be distinguished from A. greatheadii var. d...
Article
Full-text available
A number of new taxa were recently described from the tribe Ornithogaleae of the subfamily Scilloideae in the Asparagaceae, with names following the generic classification by Martínez-Azorín et al. (2011). Manning & Goldblatt (2013) subsequently provided new combinations to enable a transfer of these taxa to an alternative generic classification sy...
Article
Full-text available
a) On the basis of phylogenetic studies, changes have been made to the genus concept of Aloe. Three small genera have been circumscribed from species previously included in Aloe: the tree aloes (Aloidendron, 6 taxa), the rambling aloes (Aloiampelos, 10 taxa) and the unusual Cape endemic Kumara plicatilis in a genus of its own. Additionally, four sp...
Article
Full-text available
The correct names and synonymy for species of Aloe sect. Chortolirion (A.Berger) Boatwr. & J.C.Manning (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae) are provided. This treatment recognises four species in this section, namely A. welwitschii, A. barendii, A. jeppeae and A. subspicata. Aloe subspicata and A. welwitschii are treated as conspecific by some authors.
Article
Full-text available
We show that of four previously unrecorded, but recently unearthed names in Aloe L. (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), none has an impact on the species-rank nomenclature of the genus as currently accepted. Although nomenclatural stability is not here impacted, we argue that such long-hidden names that are now visible as part of the nomenclature applicabl...
Article
Full-text available
The combination Kumara plicatilis (L.) Klopper & Gideon F.Sm. recently published for the fan aloe [Aloe plicatilis (L.) Burm.f.], is a synonym of Kumara plicatilis (L.) G.D.Rowley, the latter having priority due to earlier valid publication.
Article
Full-text available
The genus Kumara Medikus (1786: 69) was recently reinstated in the Xanthorrhoeaceae: Asphodeloideae (alternatively Asphodelaceae: Alooideae) comprising only one species, namely the fan aloe, Kumara disticha Medikus (1786: 70) [with Aloe plicatilis (Linnaeus 1753: 321) Miller (1768: 7) given as a synonym] (Grace et al. 2013). However, if the fan alo...
Conference Paper
The National Herbarium in Pretoria houses just under a million specimens with informative labels representing almost all of the 24 000 species occurring in southern Africa. The objective of the poster is to highlight the following aspects: • The collection is expanded through collecting of plant material by internal and external contributors. • The...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
The National Herbarium in Pretoria houses just under a million specimens with informative labels representing almost all of the 24 000 species occurring in southern Africa. The objective of the poster is to highlight the following aspects: • The collection is expanded through collecting of plant material by internal and external contributors. • The...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Background – The discovery, description and popularisation of aloes from southern Africa (here defined as Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and South Africa) has not progressed in a linear manner since the region first started receiving the attention of botanists and plant collectors during the late 17th century. New species of Aloe continue to...
Conference Paper
Background – The genus Aloe L. is distributed on Africa (with the majority of species), the Arabian Peninsula, Socotra, Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. The berried aloes, previously separated in the genus Lomathophyllum Willd., are included as a section of the genus Aloe. Aim – The Madagascan component of the Aloes of the World project, a par...
Conference Paper
Background – São Tomé and Príncipe harbour a total of 156 taxa of ferns and lycophytes, 143 in São Tomé and 77 in Príncipe. Of these, thirteen are endemic, 47 are rare and sixteen are very rare or even extinct. Aim – This article presents an updated checklist with relevant synonyms of the ferns and lycophytes of these small islands in the Gulf of...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Background – The Old World genus Aloe L. comprises ± 630 species to which almost 1300 names have been applied. Members of the genus are prominent components of many, mainly arid, African landscapes. Aloes can be found in Africa (the majority of species), the Arabian Peninsula, Socotra, Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. The berried aloes of the...
Article
Full-text available
Ceterachoid aspleniums in southern Africa have long been treated as a single widespread and variable taxon, Asplenium cordatum (Thunb.) Sw. (= Ceterach cordatum Thunb.). In addition to A. cordatum, a further two ceterachoid taxa are now recognized as occurring in the Flora of southern Africa (FSA) region, namely A. capense (Kunze) Bir, Fraser-Jenk....
Article
Full-text available
The widely distributed agave snout weevil, Scyphophorus acupunctatus Gyllenhal, is for the first time recorded from Agave salmiana Otto ex Salm-Dyck subsp. salmiana in South Africa. In its native habitat in Mexico, this new host plant species is one of the most important sources of pulque, a fermented alcoholic beverage. With efforts underway at Bo...
Article
Full-text available
A new restricted range species of maculate Aloe L. (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), A. braamvanwykii Gideon F.Sm. & Figueiredo is described from near Wolmaransstad in the North-West Province of South Africa. The species is related to five other summer-flowering maculate aloes in the A. zebrina-complex: A. ammophila Reynolds, A. komatiensis Reynolds, A....
Article
Full-text available
Although morphologically variable and widely distributed in southern Africa, Aloe maculata All. is well defined by a suite of characters that includes maculate (spotted) leaves, flattopped inflorescences and uniformly coloured flowers. Being a predominantly mild-climate species, it rarely ventures into the more severe southern African interior esca...
Article
New country and provincial distribution records for South Africa of specimens collected mainly in various South African National Parks are reported on here. The taxa included in this contribution are of Orthanthera albida (Apocynaceae), Doellia cafra (Asteraceae), Bulbine ophiophylla (Xanthorrhoeaceae: Asphodeloideae) and Trachyandra asperata var....
Article
Full-text available
The Tankwa Karoo National Park has been enlarged from 27 064 ha to 143 600 ha. This whole area is severely under-collected for plants in general and therefore it was an obvious target for the South African National Parks (SANParks) Programme, a component of the Pretoria National Herbarium (PRE) Plant Collecting Programme. This programme not only ai...
Article
Full-text available
Taxonomic concepts in the morphologically variable Aloe arborescens Mill. are discussed. Previous approaches to the taxonomy of this species varied from describing aberrant material as new entities, using formal taxonomic categories, to selecting forms with horticulturally desirable characters and naming these as cultivars. We propose that in the c...
Article
Full-text available
Malawi is a landlocked country situated in the eastern section of South Tropical Africa. This relatively small country has a rich mosaic of habitats owing to the varied topography, altitudinal ranges and rainfall found in different areas. Malawi harbours at least 21 different aloes, three of which are endemic to the country. Aloes in Malawi are sev...
Article
Full-text available
Aloe graciliflora Groenew., which has previously been included in the synonymy of A. greatheadii Schonland var. davyana (Schonland) Glen & D.S.Hardy, is here reinstated. This species is adapted to the climatic extremes of South Africa’s eastern Highveld where it occurs southward from near Dullstroom to Waterval- Boven and Badplaas, and westward to...
Article
Full-text available
Selaginella nivea, a new lycophyte record for South Africa, with notes on its habitat.
Book
Full-text available
The genus Aloe is arguably one of Africa’s most iconic and valued plant genera. It is immensely popular among succulent plant collectors and horticulturalists, and is also the source of several commercially used natural products. The aloe names book brings together for the first time information on the current taxonomy of each species, the plethora...