Round-leaved pigface
Disphyma crassifolium
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Aizoaceae
Subfamily: Ruschioideae
Tribe: Ruschieae
Genus: Disphyma
Species:
D. crassifolium
Binomial name
Disphyma crassifolium

Disphyma crassifolium, commonly known as round-leaved pigface[2] or salty fingers[3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae native to Australia and the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It is a prostrate, succulent annual shrub or short-lived perennial plant with stems up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long, leaves that are three-sided in cross-section with a rounded lower angle, and purple daisy-like flowers with staminodes up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long.

Description

Disphyma crassifolium is a prostrate, succulent, annual or short-lived perennial shrub that typically grows to a height of 2–30 cm (0.79–11.81 in) and has stems up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long. Its leaves are club-shaped, more or less round to three-sided in cross-section, 5–70 mm (0.20–2.76 in) long and 1–7 mm (0.039–0.276 in) wide. The flowers are 20–50 mm (0.79–1.97 in) wide with a perianth tube 6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in) wide, the longer lobes 2–30 mm (0.079–1.181 in) long with purple, petal-like staminodes 110–30 mm (4.3–1.2 in) long that are white on the lower surface. Flowering mainly occurs from October to February and the fruit is a conical capsule that is about 10 mm (0.39 in) long and wide before opening.[2][4]

Taxonomy

Disphyma crassifolium was first published in 1753 as Mesembryanthemum crassifolium by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum from species collected in southern Africa.[5][6][7] In 1925, Nicholas Edward Brown raised the genus Disphyma in The Gardeners' Chronicle[8] and in 1927 Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus moved Linnaeus's M. crassifolium into the new genus as Disphyma crassifolium in the botanical magazine Flowering Plants of South Africa.[9]

In 1803, Adrian Hardy Haworth described Mesmbryanthemum clavellatum in his book Miscellanea Naturalia, sive Dissertationes Variae ad Historiam Naturalem Spectantes from plants raised from seed collected in Australia by Robert Brown.[10] In 1976, Robert Chinnock moved M. clavellatum to the genus Disphyma as D. clavellatum in the New Zealand Journal of Botany.[11][12] Then, in 1986, John Peter Jessop reduced Disphyma clavellatum to a subspecies, Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum in Flora of South Australia,[13] a name accepted by the Australian Plant Census and Plants of the World Online.[14][15]

Distribution and habitat

Disphyma crassifolium is widely distributed in South Africa and Australia. It grows in saline areas such as coastal dunes and samphire flats, and tolerates a range of soils including sand, loam and clay.[2][4]

References

  1. ↑ "Disphyma crassifolium". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Venning, Julianne. "Disphyma crassifolium". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Salty Fingers (Disphyma crassifolium) Identification".
  4. 1 2 "Disphyma crassifolium (L.) L.Bolus". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  5. ↑ "Mesembryanthemum crassifolium". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  6. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1753). Species Plantarum. p. 484. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  7. ↑ Haworth, Adrian H. (1803). Miscellanea Naturalia, sive Dissertationes Variae ad Historiam Naturalem Spectantes. London: J. Taylor. p. 78. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "Disphyma". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  9. ↑ "Disphyma crassifolium". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  10. ↑ Haworth, Adrian H. (1803). Miscellanea Naturalia, sive Dissertationes Variae ad Historiam Naturalem Spectantes. London: J. Taylor. p. 79. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Disphyma clavellatum". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  12. ↑ Chinnock, R. J. (March 1976). "Studies in Disphyma — a genus related to Mesembryanthemum: 2. Infraspecific subdivision of Disphyma australe and notes on the Australian species of Disphyma". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 14 (1): 78. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1976.10428653.
  13. ↑ "Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  15. ↑ "Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum (Haw.) Chinnock". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
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