Huernia guttata
| Huernia guttata | ||||||||||||
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Huernia guttata |
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| ( Masson ) Haw. |
Huernia guttata is a species of the subfamily of the silk plant family (Asclepiadoideae).
features
Huernia guttata forms stem succulent , prostrate, creeping to upright shoots that tend to form clumps. They grow to about 7 cm high and 1.5 cm thick; they are 4 to 5 ribs in cross section. Large, triangular and pointed warts sit on the ribs. The flowers are solitary and directed upwards. They sit on a relatively short, 1 to 3 mm long stem. The sepals measure approximately 7 mm. The corolla is greenish on the outside, whitish to yellowish on the inside and has reddish-brown to crimson-red spots that merge with one another in the area of the annulus. It has a diameter of 2 to 3 cm (subsp. Guttata ) or up to 7 cm (subsp. Calitzdorpensis ). The crown tube is bell-shaped and provided with transverse lines (subsp. Guttata ) or chestnut brown and only indistinctly lined transversely (subsp. Calitzdorpensis ). The opening of the crown tube is hairy and surrounded by a broad annulus (ring). The hair is stiff and more or less clubbed. The crown lobes are long and pointed, initially ascending, then widely spread or bent. The secondary crown is 4.5 to 5.5 mm high and 6 to 8 mm in diameter. The interstaminal side crown varies in color from light brown to reddish brown. The interstaminal coronary lobes are approximately square, incised at the edge or divided into two. The staminal corolla lobes are mostly cream-colored to red-brown; they become darker apically. They are initially kinked, apically upright and meet above the stylus head. Often drops of nectar hang from the corners. The pollinia are yellow.
Geographical distribution
The species occurs in the Republic of South Africa (provinces Eastern Cape and Western Cape ).
Systematics
There are two subspecies:
- Huernia guttata subsp. guttata , the crown tube is provided with transverse lines on the inside, the flower is smaller, the hair in the crown tube is less clumpy.
- Huernia guttata subsp. calitzdorpensis L.C.Leach ; the corolla has a diameter of up to 7 cm, the transverse lines in the corolla tube are faded, the hairs in the corolla tube are significantly longer and more clubbed than in the type subspecies.
literature
- Focke Albers and Ulli Meve (eds.): Succulent lexicon Volume 3 Asclepiadaceae (silk plants) . 322 S., Ulmer, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-8001-3982-8 (description of the species p. 164).
