Diplosoma

Diplosoma
Systematics
	Eudicotyledons
	Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order :	Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family :	Midday flowers (Aizoaceae)
Subfamily :	Ruschioideae
Genre :	Diplosoma
Scientific name
	Diplosoma
	Schwantes

Diplosoma is a plant kind from the family of aizoaceae (Aizoaceae). The botanical name of the genus is derived from the Greek words διπλόος (diplos) for "double" and οωμα (soma) for "body" and refers to the split, two-part plant body.

description

The plants of the genus Diplosoma are small, perennial plants that grow compact and only sparsely branched. They reach heights of growth of up to 3 centimeters and diameters of up to 5 centimeters. The plants consist of two pairs of leaves . The first pair of leaves is hemispherical, completely fused together and forms a body of 1 to 4 millimeters, which is bent under a cup-shaped, rigid cover during the period of rest. The second pair of leaves is fused together at the base for a quarter or up to half and forms a reddish, V-shaped, tongue-like body.

The individual, mostly sessile flowers appear from the gap formed by the second pair of leaves on the surface and reach a diameter of up to 30 millimeters. There are six (rarely seven) sepals . The outer two are opposite, the rest are arranged in a spiral. The petals are white at the base and purple at the tips and stand in two to three rows. They surround four to five rows of thread-like staminodes . The outer staminodes are dark purple to black, the inner white. The dark green nectaries have grown together to form a ring and surround the thread-like, six to seven-part stigma .

In their homeland, the flowering period is from June to September. The flowers open after noon and close again in the evening.

The fruits have no closure bodies. They are six (rarely seven) fanned and reach a diameter of 4 to 13 millimeters. The pear-shaped seeds are whitish or brown and 0.32 to 0.52 millimeters long and 0.21 to 0.38 millimeters wide.

Systematics and distribution

Distribution area.

The genus Diplosoma is common in the South African province of Western Cape in the vicinity of the places Clanwilliam , Vredendal and Vanrhynsdorp . The plants grow exclusively on very salty soils that are covered with a layer of quartz gravel. The annual rainfall is 200 to 300 millimeters and falls mainly in winter.

The first description was made in 1925 by Gustav Schwantes . The type species is Diplosoma retroversum .

According to Hans-Dieter Ihlenfeldt (* 1932) the genus includes the following two species:

Diplosoma luckhoffii (L.Bolus) Schwantes
Diplosoma retroversum (Kensit) Schwantes

proof

literature

Gideon Smith et al. a .: Mesembs of the World: Illustrated Guide to a Remarkable Succulent Group . Briza Publications 1998, pp. 98-99. ISBN 1-875093-13-3
H.-D. Ihlenfeldt: Diplosoma . In: Heidrun EK Hartmann : Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae AZ , Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2001, pp. 218-219, ISBN 3-540-41691-9

Individual evidence

^ Journal of Succulents . Volume 2, p. 179, Berlin 1925
^ Heidrun EK Hartmann: Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae AZ , Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2001, p. 219