|
Aizoaceae
The Aizoaceae (), or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1,800 species. Several genera are commonly known as 'ice plants' or 'carpet weeds'. The Aizoaceae are also referred to as ''vygies'' in South Africa. Some of the unusual Southern African genera—such as '' Conophytum'', '' Lithops'', '' Titanopsis'' and '' Pleiospilos'' (among others)—resemble gemstones, rocks or pebbles, and are sometimes referred to as 'living stones' or 'mesembs' (short for mesembryanthemums). Description The family Aizoaceae is widely recognised by taxonomists. It once went by the botanical name "Ficoidaceae", now disallowed. The APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system of 1998) also recognizes the family, and assigns it to the order Caryophyllales in the clade core eudicots. The APG II system also classes the former families Mesembryanthemaceae Fenzl, Sesuviaceae Horan. and Tetragoniaceae Link under the family ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesembryanthemum Guerichianum Seedling IMG 8167-cropped
''Mesembryanthemum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to southern Africa. As with many members of that family, it is characterized by long-lasting flower heads. Flowers of ''Mesembryanthemum'' protect their gametes from night-time dews or frosts but open in sunlight. There is an obvious evolutionary advantage to doing this; where sun, dew, frost, wind or predators are likely to damage exposed reproductive organs, closing may be advantageous during times when flowers are unlikely to attract pollinators. Many ''Mesembryanthemum'' species are known as ice plants because of the glistening globular bladder cells covering their stems, fruit and leaves, "... they sparkle like ice crystals". In South Africa, Mesembryanthemums are known as "vygies" (from Afrikaans "vy"), although that term refers to many plants in the family Aizoaceae. Species formerly placed in ''Mesembryanthemum'' have been transferred to other genera, such as '' Cleretum'' and '' Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithops
''Lithops'' is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa. They avoid being eaten by herbivores with their camouflage as small stones, and are often known as pebble plants or living stones. "Lithops" is both the genus name and the common name, and is singular as well as plural. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words () 'stone' and () 'face', referring to the stone-like appearance of the plants. Description Individual ''Lithops'' consist of one or more pairs of bulbous, almost fused leaves opposite each other and hardly any stem. The slit between the leaves contains the meristem and produces flowers and new leaves. The leaves of ''Lithops'' are mostly buried below the surface of the soil, with a partially or completely translucent top surface known as a leaf window which allows light to enter the interior of the leaves for photosynthesis. During winter a new leaf pair, or occasionally more t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aizoon
''Aizoon'' or ''Aizoön'' is a genus of flowering plants in the iceplant family, Aizoaceae. Description No raphides occur in at least the leaves and stalks of at least 3 species. Distribution Apart from '' A. canariense'', which is native to Macaronesia, North Africa, Southern Africa, Horn of Africa and West Asia, all species are native to southern Africa. It has been introduced to California, Central Chile, Florida, New Jersey, and Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur .... Species There are currently 43 accepted species. * '' Aizoon acutifolium'' (Adamson) Klak * '' Aizoon affine'' (Sond.) Klak * '' Aizoon africanum'' (L.) Klak *'' Aizoon asbestinum'' Schltr. *'' Aizoon canariense'' L. * '' Aizoon collinum'' (Eckl. & Zeyh.) Klak * '' Aizoon cryptocarpum'' (Fenz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titanopsis
''Titanopsis'' is a genus of about 10 species of succulent plants of the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to the arid regions of South Africa and Namibia. The name ''Titanopsis'' is derived from the Greek (god), ''Titans, Titan'', the sun, and ''opsis'', appearance, from the sun-like appearance of the flower. Distribution The genus has a disjunct distribution, occurring in three separate areas of southern Africa: southern Namibia, the region around the south-eastern border of Namibia and a larger area spanning between the former Cape Province and Orange Free State in South Africa. This unusual distribution means that the different ''Titanopsis'' species live in different rainfall systems - either summer or winter rainfall depending on the species. Description Titanopsis succulents are small plants, often found growing low to the ground with a thick root system that branches out six to ten times. The plant itself is often hidden by its own leaves, which grows in clusters of four to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caryophyllales
Caryophyllales ( ) is a diverse and heterogeneous order of flowering plants with well-known members including cacti, carnations, beets, quinoa, spinach, amaranths, pigfaces and ice plants, oraches and saltbushes, goosefoots, sundews, Venus flytraps, monkey cup pitcher plants, Malabar spinach, bougainvilleas, four o'clock flowers, buckwheat, knotweeds, rhubarb, sorrel, portulacas, jojoba, and tamarisks. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves. The betalain pigments are unique in plants of this order and occur in all its core families with the exception of Caryophyllaceae and Molluginaceae. Noncore families, such as Nepenthaceae, instead produce anthocyanins. In its modern definition, the order encompasses a whole new group of families (formerly included in the order Polygonales) that never synthesize betalains, among which several families are carnivorous (like Nepenthaceae and Droseraceae). According to molecular clock calculations, the line ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleiospilos
''Pleiospilos'' is a genus of succulent flowering plants of the family Aizoaceae. It is endemic to the Cape Provinces of South Africa. The name is derived from the Greek ''pleios'' "many" and ''spìlos'' "spot". The plants are also known as ''kwaggavy'' ("Quagga The quagga ( or ) (''Equus quagga quagga'') is an extinct subspecies of the plains zebra that was endemic to South Africa until it was hunted to extinction in the late 19th century. It was long thought to be a distinct species, but mtDNA ... mesemb"), ''lewerplant'' ("liver plant"), ''lewervygie'' ("liver mesemb"), ''klipplant'' ("stone plant"), split rock or mimicry plant. ''Pleiospilos'' species have two or four opposite, very fleshy, grey-green leaves growing from a short stem that may be underground. The leaves, with their hemispherical shape and pitted texture, often strongly resemble a pile of split pebbles to deter predators. Flowers emerge from the center of the leaves, and may be very big in relation t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesembryanthemum Crystallinum
''Mesembryanthemum crystallinum'' (the common, 'crystalline' or 'crystallinum' iceplant, or simply 'iceplant') is a species of Annual plant, annual/perennial, Succulent plant, succulent flowering plant in the ''Mesembryanthemum'' genus of the Aizoaceae Family (biology), family. A true Mediterranean climate, Mediterranean-climate grower, this Prostrate shrub, prostrate groundcover is Native species, native to coastal North Africa and Sinai Peninsula, Sinai, the Levant and maritime Southern Europe, and several Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic islands, as well. The plant is covered with large, glistening bladder cells, or water vesicles, hence its many common names such as crystallinum iceplant, crystalline iceplant or iceplant. Description ''Mesembryanthemum crystallinum'' grows creeping stems, from in length. The leaves are long. It flowers from March to October. The many-petalled flowers, across, open in the morning and close at night, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conophytum
''Conophytum'' is a genus of South African and Namibian succulent plants that belong to the family Aizoaceae. The name is derived from the Latin ''conus'' (cone) and Greek ''phytum'' (plant). The plants are also known as knopies (buttons in Afrikaans), waterblasies (water blisters in Afrikaans), sphaeroids, conos, cone plants, dumplings, or button plants. Description ''Conophytum'' species are dwarf cushion-forming or single-bodied succulents. Members of the genus are tiny plants with succulent leaves ranging from 1/4" to 2" in length. These leaves are partially or entirely fused along their centers. Each leaf pair (together referred to as a body) ranges in shape from "bilobed" to spherical to ovoid to tubular to conical. Some species have epidermal windows on the top of their leaves. To the naked eye the epidermis ranges from very smooth to slightly rough to hairy, depending on the microscopic epidermal cell shape and structure. In their normal, natural state each stem has on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
APG System
The APG system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system) of plant classification is the first version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy. Published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, it was replaced by the improved APG II in 2003, APG III system in 2009 and APG IV system in 2016. History The original APG system is unusual in being based, not on total evidence, but on the cladistic analysis of the DNA sequences of three genes, two chloroplast genes and one gene coding for ribosomes. Although based on molecular evidence only, its constituent groups prove to be supported by other evidence as well, for example pollen morphology supports the split between the eudicots and the rest of the former dicotyledons. The system is rather controversial in its decisions at the family level, splitting a number of long-established families and submerging some other families. It also is unusual in not using botanical names above the level of order, that is, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leaf
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, flower, and fruit collectively form the Shoot (botany), shoot system. In most leaves, the primary Photosynthesis, photosynthetic Tissue (biology), tissue is the palisade mesophyll and is located on the upper side of the blade or lamina of the leaf, but in some species, including the mature foliage of ''Eucalyptus'', palisade mesophyll is present on both sides and the leaves are said to be isobilateral. The leaf is an integral part of the stem system, and most leaves are flattened and have distinct upper (Glossary of botanical terms#adaxial, adaxial) and lower (Glossary of botanical terms#abaxial, abaxial) surfaces that differ in color, Trichome, hairiness, the number of stomata (pores that intake and output gases), the amount and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaf, leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, engages in photosynthesis, stores nutrients, and produces new living tissue. The stem can also be called the culm, halm, haulm, stalk, or thyrsus. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes: * The nodes are the points of attachment for leaves and can hold one or more leaves. There are sometimes axillary buds between the stem and leaf which can grow into branches (with leaf, leaves, conifer cones, or inflorescence, flowers). Adventitious roots (e.g. brace roots) may also be produced from the nodes. Vines may produce tendrils from nodes. * The internodes distance one node from another. The term "Shoot (botany), shoots" is often confused with "stems"; "shoots" generally refers to new fresh plant growth, including both stems and other str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
