A new species of Diascia (Scrophulariaceae) from the Eastern Cape (South Africa), with notes on other members of the genus in that region

A new species of Diascia from the former Transkei (Eastern Cape) is describ ed and two species (D. aliciae Hiern and D. racemulosa Benth.) synonomized by Hilliard and Burtt (1984) are re-instated as distinct. All three species are fully illustrated and a distribution map is provided. The new species, D. esterhuyseniae K. E. Steiner, is closely related to Diascia cordata N. E. Br., but differs from that species in having pedicels and sepals that ar e glandular pubescent, not glabrous, and in having spurs that are shorter a nd mostly more or less parallel, not widely divergent from the base. Diasci a esterhuyseniae is known only from hilltops near Engcobo in the Eastern Ca pe, whereas D. cordata occurs in the Drakensberg and its foothills in Kwazu lu-Natal. A key is provided to the species that overlap in distribution Wit h D. esterhuyseniae, D, racemulosa and D. aliciae.