Exomis microphylla | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Amaranthaceae |
Subfamily: | Chenopodioideae |
Tribe: | Atripliceae |
Genus: | Exomis Fenzl ex Moq. |
Species: | E. microphylla |
Binomial name | |
Exomis microphylla (Thunb.) Aellen | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Exomis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. It just contains one species, Exomis microphylla(Thunb.) Aellen [2] It is also in the Chenopodioideae subfamily. [3]
They are shrubs with dichotomous branching (forking into two equal branches), monoecious with few bisexual flowers (with male and female reproductive structures in separate flowers but on the same plant). The staminate flowers (male flowers) are in clusters, these forming terminal spikes with a 5-lobed perianth. It has 5 stamens, with the filaments basally fused. The pistillate flowers (female flowers) are irregularly dispersed between the staminate ones. They are surrounded by 2 cylindrical bracteoles (small modified leaves) accrescent (increasing in size) when in fruit. The fruit (or seed capsule), is beaked at the top with the pericarp (wall of the fruit) fleshy and adherent (linked). The seeds are vertical with the embryo annular (circle or ring shaped). With the radicle (root) pointing downward. [4]
The larva of Brephidium metophis, (the tinktinkie blue), a butterfly feed on the plant. [5] [6]
The bush Karoo rat ( Otomys unisulcatus ), builds its nests, dome-shaped stick shelters or lodges, using the plant stems of Exomis. [7]
In Khoi is known as 'Hondebos'. [8] [9]
The genus name of Exomis is derived from Greek word exomis or exomidos meaning a 'a man's vest without sleeves'. [8]
The Latin specific epithet of microphylla means small leaved. [10] It was first published in Chenop. Monogr. Enum. on page 49 in 1840. [2] [4] The species of Exomis microphylla was published in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. Vol.70 on page 375 in 1939. [1]
There is a known variant Exomis microphylla var. microphylla (with its own synonym of Atriplex microphyllaWilld.). [11]
The genus is recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service and they do list all known species and all known variants. [12]
It is native to South Africa, [4] [8] it is found in the provinces of the Cape Provinces and Free State and also in Namibia. [2] arid areas [13]
The shrub can be found growing on low-lying sandy areas with other plants such as; Zygophyllum cordiflorum, Z. flexuosum, Z. morgsana, Atriplex semibaccata, Ruschia geminiflora, Ehrharta calycina , Muraltia dumosa, Searsia glauca , Limonium perigrinum, Restio oleocharis and Euclea racemosa . [7]
Exomis microphylla is known as 'unvenyathi' and used as a folk medicine in Alice, South Africa, a leaf decoction is used in a remedy for endometritis and vaginitis. [8] [14] [15] The Cape Khoi people used the leaf decoctions with milk to remedy for epilepsy, winds, cramps and also convulsions in infants. [9]
The Salsoloideae are a subfamily of the Amaranthaceae, formerly in family Chenopodiaceae.
The Chenopodioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae in the APG III system, which is largely based on molecular phylogeny, but were included – together with other subfamilies – in the family Chenopodiaceae, or goosefoot family, in the Cronquist system.
Halimione portulacoides, commonly known as sea purslane, is a shrub found in Eurasia.
The bush vlei rat or Karoo bush rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Namibia and South Africa. Its natural habitat is temperate shrubland. The Karoo rat uses behavioral adaptations to cope with the dry arid climate. It is a medium-sized rodent with a dark pelage on top and lighter underneath. It has light colored feet and a dark tail. The rat may have light colored fur around its eyes and the back of its ears.
Atriplex vesicaria, commonly known as bladder saltbush, is a species of flowering plant of the family Amaranthaceae and is endemic to arid and semi-arid inland regions of Australia. It is an upright or sprawling shrub with scaly leaves and separate male and female plants, the fruit often with a bladder-like appendage.
Extriplex californica is a plant species known by the common name California saltbush or California orache. Formerly, it was included in genus Atriplex. It is native to coastal California and Baja California, where it grows in areas with saline soils, such as beaches and salt marshes.
Anabasis is a genus of plants in the subfamily Salsoloideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It is distributed in southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia.
Dysphania is a plant genus in the family Amaranthaceae, distributed worldwide from the tropics and subtropics to warm-temperate regions.
Kalidium is a genus of flowering plants in the plant family Amaranthaceae. The species are shrubby halophytes distributed in Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia and Central Asia to China.
Halimione is a plant genus from the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It is a sister genus of Atriplex and is included in that genus by Plants of the World Online.
Extriplex is a plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae. It has been described in 2010 and comprises two species, that were formerly included in genus Atriplex. They are restricted to the California Floristic Province.
Proatriplex is a monotypic plant genus in the subfamily Chenopodioideae of the family Amaranthaceae, with the only species Proatriplex pleiantha. It is known by the common names four-corners orach and Mancos shadscale. It occurs in the Navajo Basin of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.
Atripliceae are a tribe of the subfamily Chenopodioideae belonging to the plant family Amaranthaceae. Atriplex is the largest genus of the tribe. Species of Atripiceae are ecologically important in steppe and semi-desert climates.
Caroxylon is a genus of shrubby flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae, found in drier areas of the Old World, including southern Africa, Madagascar, northern Africa, Mediterranean islands of Europe, the Canary Islands, Socotra, Ukraine, Russia, western Asia, Central Asia, India, western and northern China, and Mongolia.
Acrosanthes is a genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae. It is native to Southern Africa.
Anthochlamys is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae.
Atriplex angulata, commonly known as fan saltbush or angular saltbush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It is an annual to short-lived perennial subshrub, native to Australia, distributed throughout drier parts of the mainland.
Atriplex australasica, the native orache, is a species of annual flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae, native to southeastern Australia. A variable species, it is found in coastal areas and other wet, brackish situations.