| Mountain sourfig | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Aizoaceae |
| Genus: | Carpobrotus |
| Species: | C. mellei |
| Binomial name | |
| Carpobrotus mellei (L. Bolus) L. Bolus | |
Carpobrotus mellei (commonly known as mountain sourfig, Berg suurvy) is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to the inland mountain ranges of the Western Cape, South Africa.
The leaves are usually a glaucous green, sometimes reddish along the leaf's edges or angles. The leaf shape is relatively straight, curving mainly at apex. The apex often has a serrated, reddish keel and mucro. The leaves are also somewhat flattened laterally, causing them to form an isosceles triangle in cross-section.
The flowers are usually a pale pink or purple colour. The stigmas are very long, at some points rising up above the stamens. The centre of the top of the ovary is raised. The receptacle of C. mellei is barrel-shaped to turbiniform. [1]
Carpobrotus mellei can be distinguished from other similar species in the genus, by a combination of its very long stigmas (usually rising above the stamens), its barrel-shaped or turbiniform receptacle, and by its higher altitude sandstone mountain habitat.
Carpobrotus ("Sour-fig") species are generally coastal plants, and of the seven species which occur in South Africa, this is the only species which naturally occurs inland in mountain fynbos.
Its natural habitat is the fynbos vegetation of the Western Cape's mountain ranges, namely the Hottentots Holland, the Langeberg and the Swartberg mountains.
Its fruits are edible and are grazed by tortoises and other southern African animals. [2]
Carpobrotus edulis is a ground-creeping plant with succulent leaves in the genus Carpobrotus, native to South Africa. Its common names include hottentot-fig, sour fig, ice plant or highway ice plant.
Carpobrotus, commonly known as pigface, ice plant, sour fig, Hottentot fig, and clawberry is a genus of ground-creeping plants with succulent leaves and large daisy-like flowers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek karpos "fruit" and brotos "edible", referring to its edible fruits.
Carpobrotus acinaciformis is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to South Africa.
This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnifying lens. This page provides help in understanding the numerous other pages describing plants by their various taxa. The accompanying page—Plant morphology—provides an overview of the science of the external form of plants. There is also an alphabetical list: Glossary of botanical terms. In contrast, this page deals with botanical terms in a systematic manner, with some illustrations, and organized by plant anatomy and function in plant physiology.
This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary of leaf morphology. For other related terms, see Glossary of phytopathology, Glossary of lichen terms, and List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names.
Babiana nana is a species of geophyte of 6–15 cm (2.4–5.9 in) high that is assigned to the family Iridaceae. It has leaves that consist of a sheath and a blade that are at an angle with each other. The leaf blades are oval to almost line-shaped and have a left and right surface, rather than an upper and lower surface. The leaf blades are moderately pleated and covered in dense, soft hairs. The inflorescence contains two to six blue to violet or pale pink flowers adorned with white markings on the lower lip, and with three stamens crowding under the upper lip. Flowering occurs from late August to the end of September. The flowers emit a smell reminiscent of roses or violets.
Carpobrotus quadrifidus is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to the west coast of South Africa.
Carpobrotus dimidiatus is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Carpobrotus deliciosus is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to a strip along the south coast of South Africa.
Carpobrotus muirii is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to the Overberg region in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Cadaba aphylla ("Swartstorm") is one of the many species in the genus Cadaba. It is indigenous to southern Africa.
Plicosepalus sagittifolius is a woody, photosynthesising, parasitic plant species that grows on the branches of mostly Acacia-species, by means of tapping roots. It has glaucus, leathery, entire, 1–6 cm long leaves set oppositely along the stem, with umbels of initially long up-curved pale greenish-yellow buds, that open explosively, the petals usually bright yellow, strongly curling, long stamens and style clear red, orange or pink, and quickly falling after fertilisation. The initially green oval berries color red when ripe. The species is assigned to the showy mistletoe family. In the Afar language it is called hatote, while the vernacular name in the Oromo language is dertu dedacha.
Vlokia ater was the first species described for the genus Vlokia in the Aizoaceae plant family. The genus name honors the discoverer, South African botanist, Jan H. J. Vlok (1957-). The species name derives from the Latin adjective "ater" for "black" and refers to the black coloring which older leaf leaves assume.
Pelargonium coronopifolium is a subshrub of up to 40 cm high. It has green to slightly greyish, linear to narrowly elliptical leaves often with irregular teeth towards the tip and white to purple flowers in groups of one to four. It can be found in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Old publications suggested the name buck's horn plantain-leaved stork's bill, but this name never gained common use.
Carpobrotus modestus, commonly known as inland pigface, is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to the coasts of Australia. It produces purple flowers which mature into fruits and is mainly used as a groundcover succulent or as a drought tolerant plant.
Protea pendula, also known as the nodding sugarbush or arid sugarbush, is a flowering plant of the genus Protea, in the family Proteaceae, which is only found growing in the wild in the Cape Region of South Africa. In the Afrikaans language it is known as knikkopsuikerbossie or ondersteboknopprotea.
Struthiola tetralepis is a willowy shrublet of up to 30 cm (0.98 ft) high that is assigned to the family Thymelaeaceae. It has long straight branches that are initially hairy and are covered in leaves pressed against them. These leaves are small, overlapping, lance-shaped, sharply pointed, have a regular row of hairs along the margins, and 3-5 veins are visible on the outward facing surface. It has initially greenish yellow, later reddish brown flowers, each of which consists of a tube of about 1 cm (0.39 in) long with 4 lance-shaped, pointed sepal lobes and 4 yellow alternating petal-like scales. It flowers between October and February. It can be found in the southwest of the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is sometimes called cross capespray in English.
Drosanthemum lavisii is a succulent plant in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae, indigenous to the Overberg region of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Ruschia leptocalyx is a species of succulent plant in the family Aizoaceae. It is endemic to the Cape Provinces of South Africa, where its natural habitat is in rocky renosterveld vegetation in the southern Cape.
Wachendorfia brachyandra is a small to large, 10–65 cm (3.9–25.6 in) high, winter-growing, perennial herbaceous plant that grows from a rootstock, and has been assigned to the bloodroot family. Its simple, entire, line- to lance-shaped leaves that are usually shorter than the stem, and have pleated, laterally flattened leaf blades af about 35 mm (1.4 in) wide, meaning that there are left and right surfaces rather than upper and lower. The inflorescence is a lax panicle and at the base of each flowerstalk is a dry, brown and papery bract, and those higher in the panicle have a recurved tip. The mirror-symmetrical pale apricot-yellow flowers consist of six tepals and are adorned with brown markings on the upper three tepals. There are three anthers that are clustered and about half as long as the tepals. Each individual flower only lasts one day. Flowering occurs from August to December. This species grows in the wild in the Western Cape province of South Africa only, and is much less common than its relatives W. paniculata and W. thyrsiflora. It is sometimes called short-stamen butterfly-lily in English.
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