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Conophytum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Aizoaceae |
Subfamily: | Ruschioideae |
Tribe: | Ruschieae |
Genus: | Conophytum N.E.Br. |
Species | |
See text |
Conophytum is a genus of South African and Namibian succulent plants that belong to the family Aizoaceae. The name is derived from the Latin conus (cone) and Greek phytum (plant). The plants are also known as knopies (buttons in Afrikaans), waterblasies (water blisters in Afrikaans), sphaeroids, conos, cone plants, dumplings, or button plants.
The genus is sometimes wrongly referred to as Conophyton, the name that Adrian Hardy Haworth suggested in 1821: "If this section proves to be a genus, the name of Conophyton would be apt". However, this was too tentative to establish a validly published generic name and also, Haworth himself neither adopted it nor accepted the genus. The genus was neither recognised nor validly named until the name Conophytum was published 101 years later. [1]
Conophytum species are dwarf cushion-forming or single-bodied succulents. Members of the genus are tiny plants with succulent leaves ranging from 1/4" to 2" in length. These leaves are partially or entirely fused along their centers. Each leaf pair (together referred to as a body) ranges in shape from "bilobed" to spherical to ovoid to tubular to conical. Some species have epidermal windows on the top of their leaves. To the naked eye the epidermis ranges from very smooth to slightly rough to hairy, depending on the microscopic epidermal cell shape and structure. In their normal, natural state each stem has only one pair of leaves at a time though one plant may have dozens of stems and thus dozens of leaf pairs. When very heavy rains come to their native habitat they may grow luxuriantly and develop two leaf pairs per stem simultaneously; this is called "stacking up" of the leaves. The plants grow very slowly; depending on the species, a 50-year-old plant might not be bigger than a walnut. [2]
Several species of Conophytum are found in cultivation. In temperate regions they are best grown in a specialist medium with the protection of glass, as they do not tolerate temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F).
Recently several species have been threatened with extinction due to mining and poaching from the wild for the black market. These plants are mainly sold to collectors in Asian countries, where there has been a high demand for them. [3] In June 2021, police arrested a dozen men at a farm in the Western Cape for possession of 4,000 Conophytum acutum ; this came as a surprise as scientists thought there were only about a thousand of the plants in the wild and none on the farm in question. [2] Teams at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden are collecting and categorising seeds from Conophytum and other succulents in partnership with the Millennium Seed Bank. [2]
This is a list of species in the genus Conophytum. [4]
Peperomia is one of the two large genera of the family Piperaceae. It is estimated that there are at least over 1,000 species, occurring in all tropical and subtropical regions of the world. They are concentrated in South and Central America, but may also be found in the southern North America, Caribbean islands, Africa, Oceania, and southern and eastern parts of Asia. The exact number of species is difficult to determine, as some plants have been recorded several times with different names, and new species continue to be discovered. Peperomias have adapted to many different environments and their appearances vary greatly. Some are epiphytes or lithophytes, and many are xerophytes or possess underground tubers (geophytes). Most species are compact perennial shrubs or vines.
The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies in South Africa and New Zealand. Highly succulent species that resemble stones are sometimes called mesembs.
Lithops is a genus of succulent plants in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae. Members of the genus are native to southern Africa. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words λίθος 'stone' and ὄψ 'face', referring to the stone-like appearance of the plants. They avoid being eaten by blending in with surrounding rocks and are often known as pebble plants or living stones. Lithops is both the genus name and the common name. The formation of the name from the Ancient Greek -ops means that even a single plant is called a Lithops.
Diselma archeri is a species of plant of the family Cupressaceae and the sole species in the genus Diselma. It is endemic to the alpine regions of Tasmania's southwest and Central Highlands, on the western coast ranges and Lake St. Clair. It is a monotypic genus restricted to high altitude rainforest and moist alpine heathland. Its distribution mirrors very closely that of other endemic Tasmanian conifers Microcachrys tetragona and Pherosphaera hookeriana.
Cotyledon is one of some 35 genera of succulent plants in the family Crassulaceae. Mostly from Southern Africa, they also occur throughout the drier parts of Africa as far north as the Arabian Peninsula. Ten of its species are mostly confined to South Africa, where unlike Tylecodon, they occur commonly in both the winter and summer rainfall regions. They may be found on coastal flats and rocky hillsides, or as cremnophytes on cliff faces. Their decussate, evergreen leaves are very variable in shape, even within some species, but the flowers are, apart from colour, very similar.
Caputia tomentosa, known as the woolly senecio and the matted caputia, is a perennial, succulent dwarf shrub of the Caputia genus that grows in the Cape Provinces of South Africa, usually between the 900 and 1200 meters elevation. It has been introduced to Myanmar. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as an ornamental.
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.
In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word succulent comes from the Latin word sucus, meaning "juice" or "sap".
Kumara plicatilis, formerly Aloe plicatilis, the fan-aloe, is a succulent plant endemic to a few mountains in the Fynbos ecoregion, of the Western Cape in South Africa. The plant has an unusual and striking fan-like arrangement of its leaves. It may grow as a large multistemmed shrub or as a small tree. It is one of the two species in the genus Kumara.
Suaeda aegyptiaca is a species of succulent plant in the family Amaranthaceae, and salt-tolerant (halophyte) plant that is distributed in eastern North Africa, the Near East and West Asia.
Mitrophyllum is a genus of succulent plants of the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to the arid region around the Richtersveld, on the border of South Africa and Namibia.
Leaf window, also known as epidermal window, and fenestration, is a specialized leaf structure consisting of a translucent area through which light can enter the interior surfaces of the leaf where photosynthesis can occur. The translucent structure may include epidermal tissue, and in some succulent plants it consists of several cell layers of parenchyma, which may also function as water-storage tissue. It can appear as a large continuous patch, a variegated or reticulated region, or as numerous small spots. It is found in some succulent plants native to arid climates, allowing much of the plant to remain beneath the soil surface where it is protected from desiccation by winds and heat while optimizing light absorption. Many species featuring leaf windows are native to Southern Africa.
Conophytum calculus is a small South African species of succulent plant in the family Aizoaceae.
Conophytum burgeri is a small, endangered, South African species of succulent plant, of the genus Conophytum.
Conophytum breve is a small South African species of succulent plant of the genus Conophytum.
Conophytum flavum, the yellow cone plant, is a small South African species of succulent flowering plant of the family Aizoaceae.
Conophytum ficiforme is a small South African species of succulent plant of the genus Conophytum.
Conophytum truncatum is a small South African species of succulent plant of the genus Conophytum.
Conophytum hammeri is a small, endangered, South African species of succulent plant, of the genus Conophytum.
Glottiphyllum regium is a rare species of succulent plant, in the family Aizoaceae. It is known locally as "koeispene". It is restricted to a small arid area near Calitzdorp in the Western Cape, South Africa.