Thick stalk

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Thick stalk
Sarcocaulon multifidum

Sarcocaulon multifidum

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Rosids
Eurosiden II
Order : Cranesbill (geraniales)
Family : Cranesbill family (Geraniaceae)
Genre : Thick stalk
Scientific name
Sarcocaulon
( DC. ) Sweet

The thick stalk ( sarcocaulon , literally translated as "meat stalk") or Bushman candles are a genus of the cranesbill family ( Geraniaceae ). Their distribution area is in southern Africa . The name "Bushman candles" refers to species such as the knee-high Sarcocaulon patersonii , whose stems and branches are surrounded by a resinous cork coat that burns like a candle and serves as fuel for the San .

features

Sarcocaulon species are strongly succulent , reinforced dwarf shrubs . The more or less upright branches are covered with a layer of wax. Two leaf types are formed: spiky ones and those with a distinct leaf blade , with a smooth, lobed or serrated leaf margin. There are also stipules .

The flowers are two bracts singly in the leaf axils. The hermaphroditic, five-fold flowers are radial symmetry . The five sepals and five petals are free. There are three circles with five stamens each, one circle with long and two with short stamens (this is where this genus differs from all others in the family). Five carpels have become a top permanent ovary grown.

The split fruit breaks down into five partial fruits. The long hairy "fruit beak" is hygroscopic .

Systematics

The genus is divided into four sub-genera and contains a total of 14 species:

photos

Sarcocaulon crassicaule :

literature

  • Wolfgang Niestradt: Sarcocaulon peniculinum , an unusual succulent plant, Kuas 2000, issue 6, p. 163 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fritz Encke , Günther Buchheim, Siegmund Seybold : Zander . Concise dictionary of plant names. 15th edition, corrected reprint of the 14th edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8001-5072-7 .
  2. Wilhelm Eigener: Animals and Plants of the Earth. Publishing house Olde Hansen, Hamburg 1976

Web links

Commons : Dickstängel ( Sarcocaulon )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files