Microcnemum

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Microcnemum
Microcnemum coralloides.jpg
Microcnemum coralloides
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae
Subfamily: Salicornioideae
Genus: Microcnemum
Ung.-Sternb. (1876)
Species:
M. coralloides
Binomial name
Microcnemum coralloides
(Loscos & J.Pardo) Buen (1883)
Subspecies [1]
  • Microcnemum coralloides subsp. anatolicumWagenitz
  • Microcnemum coralloides subsp. coralloides
Synonyms [1]

Arthrocnemum coralloidesLoscos & J.Pardo (1863)

Microcnemum is a genus in the plant family Amaranthaceae, containing a single species, Microcnemum coralloides. It is a dwarf annual halophyte with fleshy, apparently jointed stems and reduced leaves and flowers. The two subspecies show a disjunct distribution in Spain and Western Asia.

Contents

Description

Microcnemum coralloides grows as a low annual herb of 5 to 10 cm (2.0 to 3.9 in) height. [2] The color is variable, the subspecies Microcnemum coralloides subsp. coralloides is often purplish. [3] The erect stems are branched. [2] The opposite leaves are fleshy small scales, connate in the lower part and cup-like stem-clasping. [3]

All branches are terminating in cone-like inflorescences, 1.5 to 3 cm (0.59 to 1.18 in) long. [2] Cymes consist of (two or) three minute flowers that are sunk in the axil of each opposite bract. The bisexual flowers are free. The connate tepals are reduced to a minute membranous lobe or sometimes absent, especially in fruit. There is only one stamen and an ovary with two stigmas. [3]

The vertical seed is ovoid, somewhat flattened, reddish-magenta, with tubercular or papillose surface. [3] The seed contains the terete curved embryo and copious perisperm (feeding tissue). [2]

Distribution and habitat

Microcnemum coralloides is distributed in the Mediterranean region and Western Asia. The two subspecies show remarkable disjunct areals: Microcnemum coralloides subsp. coralloides occurs in central and eastern Spain, Microcnemum coralloides subsp. anatolicum occurs in Turkey, Syria, Armenia, and Iran. [3]

The plants are halophytes and grow at the shores of very saline flat lagoons and inland saltpans, often on thick salt crusts, together with few other halophytes, tolerating extreme salinity during the dry season. Microcnemum coralloides is a rare species. [3]

Systematics and phylogeny

The first valid species description was made in 1863 by Francisco Loscos Bernal and José Pardo Sastrón as Arthrocnemum coralloidesLoscos & J.Pardo (in: Willkomm, H.M.: Series Inconfecta Plantarum Aragoniae, Dresde: p. 90). Before that, the authors had used the name Salicornia fastigiata in an unpublished manuscript, "Flora de Aragón". [4] In 1876, Franz Ungern-Sternberg transferred the species to a new monotypic genus, Microcnemum. [5] But his Microcnemum fastigiatum(Loscos & J.Pardo) Ung.-Sternb. was an illegitimate name, because it is based on an unpublished name. Odón de Buen corrected the combination to Microcnemum coralloides(Loscos & J.Pardo) Buen in 1883. [2] [6] A further synonym is Loscosia aragonensisWillk. ex Pau (nomen illegit). [7]

The genus comprises just one species, Microcnemum coralloides. There are two subspecies differing mainly by their seed characters. Slight differences concerning height, succulence, branching, and coloration (the eastern subspecies is never purplish) are variable and seem to be influenced by seasonal fluctuations of rainfall and soil salinity. [3]

Microcnemum, together with the phylogenetic lineages of Sarcocornia / Salicornia and the Australian members ( Tecticornia ) of the subfamily Salicornioideae, probably evolved during the Mid Miocene at the shores of the Thetys Sea. [3]

Phylogenetic research indicates that Microcnemum coralloides originated in the East Mediterranean region, the split of the subspecies ranging from 2.8 to 0.5 million years ago. Microcnemum coralloides subsp. coralloides seems to have evolved during cold periods of the Early Pleistocene, when lower sea level allowed westward migration along coastal saline lagoons. Probably soon after the arrival in Iberia, the distribution range was interrupted during a following warm period. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halophyte</span> Salt-tolerant plant

A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores. The word derives from Ancient Greek ἅλας (halas) 'salt' and φυτόν (phyton) 'plant'. Halophytes have different anatomy, physiology and biochemistry than glycophytes. An example of a halophyte is the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora. Relatively few plant species are halophytes—perhaps only 2% of all plant species. Information about many of the earth's halophytes can be found in the halophyte database.

<i>Beta vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant

Beta vulgaris (beet) is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Economically, it is the most important crop of the large order Caryophyllales. It has several cultivar groups: the sugar beet, of greatest importance to produce table sugar; the root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet; the leaf vegetable known as chard or spinach beet or silverbeet; and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop. Three subspecies are typically recognised. All cultivars, despite their quite different morphologies, fall into the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris. The wild ancestor of the cultivated beets is the sea beet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amaranthaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus Amaranthus. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it the most species-rich lineage within its parent order, Caryophyllales.

<i>Salicornia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae

Salicornia is a genus of succulent, halophytic flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. Salicornia species are native to North America, Europe, central Asia, and southern Africa. Common names for the genus include glasswort, pickleweed, picklegrass, and marsh samphire; these common names are also used for some species not in Salicornia. To French speakers in Atlantic Canada, they are known colloquially as titines de souris. The main European species is often eaten, called marsh samphire in Britain, and the main North American species is occasionally sold in grocery stores or appears on restaurant menus as sea beans, samphire greens or sea asparagus.

Sarcocornia is a formerly recognized genus of flowering plants in the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae. Species are known commonly as samphires, glassworts, or saltworts. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that when separated from Salicornia, the genus is paraphyletic, since Salicornia is embedded within it, and Sarcocornia has now been merged into a more broadly circumscribed Salicornia. When separated from Salicornia, the genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, and is most diverse in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salicornioideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

The Salicornioideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae. Important characters are succulent, often articulated stems, strongly reduced leaves, and flowers aggregated in thick, dense spike-shaped thyrses. These halophytic plants are distributed worldwide. Many are edible

<i>Beta</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae

Beta is a genus in the flowering plant family Amaranthaceae. The best known member is the common beet, Beta vulgaris, but several other species are recognised. Almost all have common names containing the word "beet". Wild Beta species can be found throughout the Atlantic coast of Europe, the Mediterranean coastline, the Near East, and parts of Asia including India.

<i>Tecticornia</i> Genus of plants

Tecticornia is a genus of succulent, salt tolerant plants largely endemic to Australia. Taxa in the genus are commonly referred to as samphires. In 2007, the genus Halosarcia, along with three other Australian genera was incorporated into the genus.

<i>Salicornia quinqueflora</i> Species of plant

Salicornia quinqueflora, synonym Sarcocornia quinqueflora, commonly known as beaded samphire, bead weed, beaded glasswort or glasswort, is a species of succulent halophytic coastal shrub. It occurs in wetter coastal areas of Australia and New Zealand.

<i>Salicornia bigelovii</i> Species of flowering plant in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae

Salicornia bigelovii is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common names dwarf saltwort and dwarf glasswort. It is native to coastal areas of the eastern and southern United States, Belize, and coastal Mexico. It is a plant of salt marshes, a halophyte which grows in saltwater. It is an annual herb producing an erect, branching stem which is jointed at many internodes. The fleshy, green to red stem can reach about 60 cm in height. The leaves are usually small plates, pairs of which are fused into a band around the stem. The inflorescence is a dense, sticklike spike of flowers. Each flower is made up of a fused pocket of sepals enclosing the stamens and stigmas, with no petals. The fruit is an utricle containing tiny, fuzzy seeds. The southern part of the species range is represented by the Petenes mangroves of the Yucatán, where it is a subdominant plant associate in the mangroves.

<i>Salicornia europaea</i> Species of flowering plant in the amaranth family Amaranthaceae

Salicornia europaea, known as marsh samphire, common glasswort or just glasswort, is a halophytic annual dicot flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae. Glasswort is a succulent herb also known as "pickle weed" or "marsh samphire". As a succulent, it has high water content, which accounts for its slightly translucent look and gives it the descriptive name "glasswort". To some people, it is known as "chicken toe" because of its shape. To others, it is called "saltwort". It grows in various zones of intertidal salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves.

<i>Halostachys</i> Genus of flowering plants

Halostachys is a genus of flowering plants in the plant family Amaranthaceae, containing a single species, Halostachys caspica. The plants are small to medium halophytic shrubs with apparently jointed fleshy stems and scale-like leaves. They are native to western and central Asia and northern China.

<i>Kalidium</i> Genus of flowering plants

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.

<i>Heterostachys</i> Genus of flowering plants

Heterostachys is a genus of flowering plants in the plant family Amaranthaceae. The two species are shrubby halophytes native to South America and Central America.

Arthrocnemum was a genus of shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae. Two or three species were included in the genus. They are halophytes with fleshy, apparently articulated plant stems and reduced leaves and flowers.

<i>Halocnemum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Halocnemum is a genus of halophytic shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae. The plants are fleshy and apparently articulated with characteristic globular or short-cylindrical lateral branches, and reduced leaves and flowers. There are three or two species, occurring from Southern Europe and North Africa to Asia.

<i>Halopeplis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Halopeplis is a genus in the family Amaranthaceae. The plants are halophytes with not articulated stems and fleshy stem-clasping leaves. There are three species, occurring from the Mediterranean basin and North Africa to Southwest Asia and Central Asia.

<i>Atriplex holocarpa</i> Species of flowering plant

Atriplex holocarpa is a low-growing species of Atriplex (saltbush) found throughout arid regions of Australia. A. holocarpa is commonly known as pop saltbush, because its carpals pop when stepped upon.

Kelly Anne Shepherd is an Australian botanist, who has published some 91 names.

<i>Atriplex prostrata</i> Species of plant in the genus Atriplex

Atriplex prostrata, called the spear-leaved orache, hastate orache, thin-leaf orache, triangle orache, and fat hen, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the saltbush genus Atriplex, native to Europe, Macaronesia, northern Africa, Ethiopia, the Middle East, western Siberia, and Central Asia, and introduced to temperate North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, and Primorsky Krai in far eastern Russia. It is a facultative halophyte.

References

  1. 1 2 Microcnemum coralloides (Loscos & J.Pardo) Buen. Plants of the World Online . Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Ian Charleson Hedge (1997): Microcnemum coralloides. In: Karl Heinz Rechinger et al. (ed.): Flora Iranica, Vol. 172, Chenopodiaceae, Akad. Druck, Graz, ISBN   3-201-00728-5, p. 132-133.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gudrun Kadereit, Ahmet Emre Yaprak (2008): Microcnemum coralloides (Chenopodiaceae- Salicornioideae): an example of intraspecific East-West disjunctions in the Mediterranean region. In: Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid, Volume 65, No 2, p. 415-426.
  4. Carlez Benedí González, Josep M. Montserrat Martí (1998): Tres manuscritos inéditos de Francisco Loscos en el instituto botánico de Barcelona. In: Flora Montiberica, Vol. 10, p. 18.
  5. Franz Ungern-Sternberg (1876): Salicorniearum Synopsis. In: Atti del congresso internazionale botanico tenuto in Firenze nel mese di maggio 1874, p. 268–269, 280. first publication of Microcnemum
  6. Mikko Piirainen 2009: Microcnemum coralloides. In: P. Uotila, (ed.): Chenopodiaceae. In: Euro+Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.
  7. Synonyms of Microcnemum coralloides (Loscos & J. Pardo) Buen at Flora Iberia