Oophytum
| Oophytum | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oophytum nanum |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Oophytum | ||||||||||||
| NEBr. |
Oophytum is a plant kind from the family of aizoaceae (Aizoaceae). The botanical name is derived from the Greek words ωόν (oon) for "egg" and φυτόν (phyton) for "plant" and refers to the egg-shaped body of the plants.
description
The plants of the genus Oophytum grow compact and form small clusters with age. Each shoot usually develops two pairs of leaves per year. The leaves are completely fused with each other and form egg-shaped or almost spherical bodies that have a stature height of 8 to 12 millimeters and a width of 4 to 10 millimeters. The second pair of leaves turns into a paper-like envelope and covers the first pair of leaves during the dormant period. The leaves are dark green to brownish green or yellowish green and turn bright brownish red towards the end of the growing season. Your epidermis contains small bladder cells .
The individual flowers sit on a short flower stalk and appear from the gap formed by the second pair of leaves on the surface. The ovary remains within the plant body. There are six sepals . The outer two are opposite, the rest are arranged in a spiral. The petals , like the thread-like staminodes , are in about two rows. Petals and staminodes are pinkish red or occasionally completely white at the tip. The nectaries have grown together to form a ring.
In their homeland, the flowering period is between July and September. The flowers open at noon and close around 5:00 p.m.
The six-faced fruit capsules have wide flaps but no closure bodies and contain black or light brown seeds .
Systematics, number of chromosomes and distribution
The distribution area of the genus Oophytum lies in the Knersvlakte and extends in the South African province of Western Cape north of Vanrhynsdorp to Vredendal . The plants grow on plains or slopes containing quartzite. The amount of precipitation is less than 200 millimeters per year and falls mainly in winter.
The chromosome number is .
The first description was published in 1925 by Nicholas Edward Brown . The type species is Oophytum oviforme . According to Hans-Dieter Ihlenfeldt (* 1932) the genus Oophytum includes the following two species:
- Oophytum nanum (Schlechter) L. Bolus
- Oophytum oviforme (NEBr.) NEBr.
proof
literature
- Gideon Smith et al. a .: Mesembs of the World: Illustrated Guide to a Remarkable Succulent Group . Briza Publications 1998, pp. 122-123. ISBN 1-875093-13-3
- H.-D. Ihlenfeldt: Oophytum . In: Heidrun EK Hartmann : Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae FZ , Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2001, pp. 192–193, ISBN 3-540-41723-0
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gardeners' Chronicle . Series 3, Volume 78, p. 413, London 1925
- ^ Heidrun EK Hartmann: Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae FZ , Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2001, pp. 192–193
further reading
- H.-D. Ihlenfeldt: Morphology and taxonomy of the genus Oophytum NE Br. (Mesembryanthemaceae) . In: Botanical yearbooks for systematics, plant history and plant geography. Leipzig . Volume 99, pp. 303-328, 1978
