Euphorbia obesa

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Euphorbia obesa
Euphorbia obesa with female flowers

Euphorbia obesa with female flowers

Systematics
Eurosiden I
Order : Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family : Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
Genre : Spurge ( Euphorbia )
Subgenus : Euphorbia
Type : Euphorbia obesa
Scientific name
Euphorbia obesa
Hook.f.

Euphorbia obesa is a species of plant in the genus Spurge ( Euphorbia ) from the family of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae). Their home is a very limited area in the Karoo near Graaff-Reinet in the South African province of Eastern Cape . There it occurs on very sandy soils, often under bushes, and blends so well into its surroundings that it is often difficult to see.

description

Male flowers

Euphorbia obesa has a spherical shoot that is spherical when young and cylindrical when it is old and remains rather small with a maximum height of 30 cm and a maximum diameter of 9 cm. The shoot is gray-green and clearly structured by mostly eight, non-protruding ribs. The edges of the ribs are covered with small, blunt teeth. Thorns are missing. The leaves are very small and short-lived. The also gray-green cyathia form on the edges near the tip of the shoot. The inflorescence stalks are very short. The bract has a diameter of 2.5 to 3 mm. Euphorbia obesa is dioecious , only occasionally monoecious . The plant is pollinated by insects.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 20.

Danger

Due to its symmetrical appearance, Euphorbia obesa occurs in numerous public and private collections worldwide and so many seeds are obtained that extinction in cultivation can be excluded. In its habitat, however, the plant is seriously endangered by illegal collection, although it is protected and removals from nature are officially prosecuted.

Systematics

The plant was discovered in 1897 by Peter MacOwan , then curator of the Botanical Gardens of Cape Town , and sent under the name Euphorbia meloformis to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew , where it was given its scientific name Euphorbia obesa by Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1903 .

Some authors differentiate between the following subspecies:

  • Euphorbia obesa subsp. obesa
  • Euphorbia obesa subsp. symmetrica (ACWhite, RADyer & B.Sloane) GDRowley

literature

  • Volker Buddensiek: Succulent Euphorbias . Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8001-6634-8 , pp. 123-124.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Anne Hildyard (Ed.): Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World , Volume 4, Tarrytown 2001, p. 516 ( ISBN 978-0761471981 ).
  2. ↑ a b c Anne Hildyard (Ed.): Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World , Volume 4, Tarrytown 2001, p. 515, ( ISBN 978-0761471981 ).
  3. ^ Euphorbia obesa at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis.
  4. ↑ Urs Eggli (Ed.): Succulents Lexicon. Dicotyledons (dicotyledons) . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-8001-3915-4 , pp. 180-181 .

Web links

Commons : Euphorbia obesa  - album with pictures, videos and audio files