''Disphyma crassifolium'' subsp. ''clavellatum'' is the subspecies of ''

Disphyma crassifolium ''Disphyma crassifolium'', commonly known as round-leaved pigface or salty fingers is a species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae native to Australia and the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It is a prostrate, succulent annual shrub or s ...

'' (round-leaved pigface) that occurs in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is sometimes known by the common name rounded noon-flower

Description

It grows as a prostrate, succulent shrub or annual herb, from two to 30 centimetres high. Unlike the other pigfaces its leaves are round in cross-section. Flowers are pink, purple or violet.

Taxonomy

This subspecies was first published under the name ''Mesembryanthemum australe'' by

Georg Forster Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (; 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German geography, geographer, natural history, naturalist, ethnology, ethnologist, travel literature, travel writer, journalist and revol ...

in 1786, based on New Zealand material. Forster failed to give a description, however, so valid publication of the name falls to

William Aiton William Aiton (17312 February 1793) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist. Aiton was born near Hamilton, Scotland, Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Phi ...

, who published a description in 1789. In 1803,

Adrian Hardy Haworth Adrian Hardy Haworth (19 April 1767, in Kingston upon Hull, Hull – 24 August 1833, in Chelsea, London, Chelsea) was an England, English entomologist, botanist and carcinologist. Family The younger son of Benjamin Haworth, of Haworth Hall and ...

published ''M. clavellatum'' based on plants raised at Kew from seeds collected in Australia. In 1830, N. E. Brown transferred ''M. australe'' into ''Disphyma'' as ''D. australe''. In 1971

Robert Chinnock Robert James (Bob) Chinnock (born 3 July 1943) is a New Zealand-born Australian botanist who worked at the State Herbarium of South Australia as a senior biologist. He retired in 2008 but still works as an honorary research associate. His resear ...

published a new species name, ''D. blackii'', for some New Zealand material, and five years later he transferred ''M. clavellatum'' to ''Disphyma''. In the early 1980s,

Hugh Francis Glen Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

determined, on the basic of a

multivariate analysis Multivariate statistics is a subdivision of statistics encompassing the simultaneous observation and analysis of more than one outcome variable, i.e., '' multivariate random variables''. Multivariate statistics concerns understanding the differ ...

, that ''Disphyma'' was monotypic. All other names were therefore given synonymy with ''D. crassifolium''. This situation remained until 1986, when it was decided that the South African populations differed sufficiently from the Australian and New Zealand populations to merit distinct subspecies. ''D. crassifolium'' subsp. ''clavellatum'' was then erected to encompass the Australian and New Zealand populations, with the

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

''D. crassifolium'' subsp. ''crassifolium'' defined as encompassing the South African plants. ic/ref>

Distribution and habitat

''Disphyma crassifolium'' is widely distributed in Australia and New Zealand. It grows in saline areas such as coastal dunes and samphire flats, and tolerates a range of soils including sand, loam and clay.

Uses

The leaves have become a popular native vegetable in Australia marketed under the name "karkalla". It typically has a salty flavour and can be used fresh or as a pickled ingredient.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5282595 Aizoaceae Eudicots of Western Australia Flora of New Zealand Caryophyllales of Australia Plant subspecies