Pleiospilos

Pleiospilos
	Pleiospilos nelii
Systematics
	Eudicotyledons
	Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order :	Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family :	Midday flowers (Aizoaceae)
Subfamily :	Ruschioideae
Genre :	Pleiospilos
Scientific name
	Pleiospilos
	NEBr.

Pleiospilos is a genus of plants fromthe afternoon flower family (Aizoaceae). The botanical name of the genus is derived from the Greek words pleio for "many" and σπίλος (spilos) for "spot" and refers to the numerous small spots visible on the leaves.

description

The plants of the genus Pleiospilos grow compact to grass-like and are rarely not branched. Each branch has one to four pairs of leaves. The gray-green or brownish foliage leaves that are fused at the base are triangular to hemispherical and longitudinally widened to arched. Its surface is covered with an irregularly thick layer of wax that can be easily rubbed off. Due to the tannin-containing idioblasts located below the crystal-free outer epidermis wall , the leaves look speckled. The stomata of the epidermis are not sunk.

Up to three flowers appear individually or in small groups above bracts . The calyx is five to six (rarely up to eight) lobed. The numerous petals are yellow or rarely white and sometimes above the ovary grow into a short tube. The dark green nectaries form an inconspicuous ring and surround the upright, papillary stamens . The dark brown, raised and rounded fruits at the tip resemble those of the genus Leipoldtia .

All species bloom in their homeland in autumn. The only exception is Pleiospilos nelii , which blooms in winter. The strongly fragrant flowers open in the late afternoon and stay open until shortly after dusk.

The 9 to 16-compartment capsule fruits have broad, tapered lid wings at the tip. The dark brown, papillary seeds are egg-shaped and 1 to 1.5 millimeters long and 0.9 to 1.3 millimeters wide.

Systematics, number of chromosomes and distribution

The distribution area of the genus Pleiospilos extends in South Africa from the west of the Eastern Cape Province , across the south of the Northern Cape Province to the east of the Western Cape Province . The main distribution area is in the Little Karoo . The plants grow on north-facing red-brown, slate-containing slopes or in plains with an annual rainfall between 200 and 400 millimeters, which falls mainly in March and November.

The chromosome number is . ${\ displaystyle 2n = 18}$

The first description was published in 1925 by Nicholas Edward Brown . The type species is Pleiospilos compactus . A revision of the genre was made in 1986 by Heidrun Hartmann and Sigrid Liede (* 1957). According to Hartmann (2001), the genus is divided into two sub-genera with the following species and subspecies:

Subgenus Pleiospilos
- Pleiospilos bolusii (Hook.f.) NEBr.
- Pleiospilos nelii Schwantes
- Pleiospilos simulans (Marloth) NEBr.
Subgenus Punctillaria (NEBr.) HEKHartmann & Liede
- Pleiospilos compactus Schwantes
  - Pleiospilos compactus subsp. compactus
  - Pleiospilos compactus subsp. canus (Haw.) HEK Hartmann & Liede
  - Pleiospilos compactus subsp. minor (L.Bolus) HEK Hartmann & Liede
  - Pleiospilos compactus subsp. fergusoniae (L.Bolus) HEKHartmann & Liede
  - Pleiospilos compactus subsp. sororius (NEBr.) HEKHartmann & Liede
- Pleiospilos × purpusii Schwantes

proof

literature

PS Green, Klaus Kubitzki, E. Götz, KU Kramer: The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants . Volume 1, pp. 67-68, Springer, 1990, ISBN 3-540-55509-9
Heidrun EK Hartmann: Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae FZ , Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2001, pp. 218-221, ISBN 3-540-41723-0
Gideon Smith et al. a .: Mesembs of the World: Illustrated Guide to a Remarkable Succulent Group . Briza Publications 1998, pp. 124-127. ISBN 1-875093-13-3

Individual evidence

↑ Gardeners' Chronicle . Series 3, Volume 78, p. 433, London 1925
↑ Heidrun EK Hartmann: Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae FZ , Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2001, p. 218 f.

Web links

Commons : Pleiospilos - collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Gardeners' Chronicle . Series 3, Volume 78, p. 433, London 1925

[2] Heidrun EK Hartmann: Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae FZ , Springer Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg / New York 2001, p. 218 f.