''Halopeplis'' is a genus in the family Amaranthaceae. The plants are halophytes with not articulated stems and fleshy stem-clasping leaves. There are three species, occurring from the

Mediterranean basin In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and w ...

and North Africa to Southwest Asia and Central Asia.

Description

The species of ''Halopeplis'' are

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

annual ore perennial herbs with glabrous, not jointed plant stems. The alternate or nearly opposite

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are fleshy, glabrous, globular or ovate, sessile and stem-clasping, with distinct or reduced leaf blades. The cylindrical spike-like inflorescences are standing laterally or terminally in the upper parts of the plants. In spirally arranged

cymes An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed on ...

groups of three flowers are sitting in the axils of fleshy

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. The mostly bisexual flowers are immersed in the inflorescence axis and more or less connate to each other, to the bract, and to the axis. The inconspicuously three-lobed perianth consists of three connate tepals. There are one ore two (rarely three)

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s shortly exserting the flower, and an ovary with two stigmas. The fruit remains enclosed in the inflorescence axis, the fruit wall (pericarp) is membranous. The seed is ovoid to circular, compressed, with leathery, smooth or papillose seed coat. The seed contains the half-annular, uncinate or curved embryo and copious perisperm (feeding tissue).

Distribution and habitat

The distribution area of ''Halopeplis'' covers the Mediterranean region, North Africa, Southwest Asia, Central Asia to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

( Xinjiang). The plants are halophytes and grow on wet salty soils at sea shores, lagoons, or inland at the edge of

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...

s and in saline

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

Systematics

The genus ''Halopeplis'' was first published in 1866 by

Franz Ungern-Sternberg Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

. In 1857, Alexander Bunge had introduced the name ''Halopeplis'', but without a valid description. The lectotype of the genus is ''Halopeplis nodulosa'', which is a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

of ''Halopeplis amplexicaulis''. The genus ''Halopeplis'' comprises three species: * ''

Halopeplis amplexicaulis ''Halopeplis'' is a genus in the family Amaranthaceae. The plants are halophytes with not articulated stems and fleshy stem-clasping leaves. There are three species, occurring from the Mediterranean basin and North Africa to Southwest Asia a ...

'' (Vahl) Ung.-Sternb. ex Ces., Pass. & Gibelli: annual, occurring in inland salt flats and at salt lakes, distributed in the southern

Mediterranean Basin In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and w ...

and in North Africa. * '' Halopeplis perfoliata'' (Forssk.) Bunge ex Asch. & Schweinf.: perennial, occurring at sea shores from the Red Sea, Sinai Peninsula,

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

, to southwestern Pakistan (

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

). * ''

Halopeplis pygmaea ''Halopeplis'' is a genus in the family Amaranthaceae. The plants are halophytes with not articulated stems and fleshy stem-clasping leaves. There are three species, occurring from the Mediterranean basin and North Africa to Southwest Asia a ...

'' (Pall.) Bunge ex Ung.-Sternb.: annual, occurring in inland salt flats and at salt lakes, distributed from the North Caucasus, Caspian Sea, southern Iraq, Iran, Central Asia to

( Xinjiang).

References

Hedge, I.C.: ''Halopeplis''. In: Rechinger, K.H. et al. (eds.): ''Flora Iranica'', Vol. 172, ''Chenopodiaceae'', Akad. Druck, Graz 1997, p. 123–125. . Kadereit, G., Mucina, L. & Freitag, H.: ''Phylogeny of Salicornioideae (Chenopodiaceae): diversification, biogeography, and evolutionary trends in leaf and flower morphology'', In: ''Taxon'', Volume 55 (3), 2006, p. 619. Piirainen, M. 2009
''Halopeplis amplexicaulis.'' In: P. Uotila, (ed.): ''Chenopodiaceae.'' In: ''Euro+Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.''
/ref> Ungern-Sternberg, F.: ''Versuch einer Systematik der Salicornieen'', 1866, p. 102. Zhu, G., Mosyakin, S.L., & Clemants, S.E.
''Halopeplis.''
In: Zhengyi, W., Raven, P.H., & Hong, D. (eds.): ''Flora of China''. Volume 5: ''Ulmaceae through Basellaceae''. Science Press/Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing/St. Louis 2003, , p. 355.

External links

* * * Piirainen, M. 2009
''Halopeplis.'' In: P. Uotila, (ed.): ''Chenopodiaceae.'' In: ''Euro+Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.''

Illustration of ''Halopeplis amplexicaulis'' at ''Flora Iberica''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q793830 Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae genera