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Frithia
''Frithia'' is a genus of succulent plants in the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to several small rocky areas in the vicinity of Gauteng Province, South Africa. Description Like several of its close relatives (e.g. ''Fenestraria'') and other plants in its ecotype (e.g. some species of ''Haworthia'' and ''Bulbine'') it has epidermal windows (translucent areas in its leaves) as an adaptation to the difficulties of photosynthesis in its arid environment. Cultivation ''Frithia'' are summer-growing species, as their natural habitat lies in a summer-rainfall region. They grow in very well-drained, sandy soil, with repetitive light watering in summer and a dry environment in winter. Species The genus contains the following species: * ''Frithia pulchra'' N.E.Br. Nicholas Edward Brown (11 July 1849 in Redhill, Surrey – 25 November 1934 in Kew Gardens, London) was an English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents. He was also an authority on several families of plants, incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frithia Pulchra
''Frithia pulchra'', the fairy elephant's feet, is a species of flowering plant in the figmarigold family Aizoaceae, endemic to Gauteng Province, South Africa (where it is classified as “Vulnerable” by the IUCN Red List). Its natural habitat is temperate grassland with high summer rainfall. A tiny stemless succulent growing to just tall and broad, it has bulbous oblong leaves with leaf windows at the tip; and magenta and white daisy-like flowers in winter. During periods of drought it has the ability to shrink beneath the soil surface, thus avoiding excessive desiccation, but making it extremely difficult to find. It is named for Frank Frith, a Johannesburg gardener who showed specimens to N.E. Brown, a botanist at Kew Gardens, while on a visit to London, UK, in 1925. The Latin specific epithet ''pulchra'' means “beautiful”. It does not survive frosts, so in temperate areas it needs to be cultivated under glass. In the UK it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frithia Humilis
''Frithia humilis'' is a species of plant in the family Aizoaceae. It is one of the few members of Aizoaceae growing endemic to the summer-rainfall region of South Africa. It is restricted to two provinces of South Africa: Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ... and Mpumalanga. This small plant consists of a cluster of long, succulent leaves that stick out just above the sandy gravel, with a thickened underground rootstock. The leaves lose water and contract during drought, hiding underground and so preventing more water loss. References''South African National Biodiversity Institute, South Africa.'' Flora of South Africa Aizoaceae {{Aizoaceae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aizoaceae
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. Description The family Aizoaceae is widely recognised by taxonomists. It once went by the botanical name "Ficoidaceae", now disallowed. The APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system of 1998) also recognizes the family, and assigns it to the order Caryophyllales in the clade core eudicots. The APG II system also classes the former families Mesembryanthemaceae Fenzl, Sesuviaceae Horan. and Tetragoniaceae Link under the family Aizoaceae. The common Afrikaans name "vygie" meaning "small fig" refers to the fruiting capsule, which resembles the true fig. Glistening epidermal bladder cells give the family its common name "ice plants". Most s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fenestraria
''Fenestraria'' (known as babies' toes or window plant) is a (possibly monotypic) genus of succulent plants in the family Aizoaceae, native to the Namaqualand in Namibia. Description The only species currently recognised in this genus is ''Fenestraria rhopalophylla''. Each leaf has an epidermal window, a transparent window-like area, at its rounded tip, it is for these window-like structures that the genus is named (Latin: '' fenestra''). ''Fenestraria rhopalophylla'' appears very similar to '' Frithia pulchra'', though the leaves are a slightly different shape and ''F. rhopalophylla'' has yellow flowers, compared to the pink flowers of ''F. pulchra''. Distribution and habitat In the wild, the plant commonly grows under sand, except for the transparent tips, which allow light into the leaves for photosynthesis. The plant produces optical fibers made from crystalline oxalic acid which transmit light to subterranean photosynthetic sites. ''Fenestraria rhopalophylla'' is n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epidermal Window
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. 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. Functions The primary function of the translucent windows is to increase the absorption of radiant energy, and thereby the rate of photosynthesis. Epidermal windows are commonly situated at the apex of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aizoaceae Genera
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. Description The family Aizoaceae is widely recognised by taxonomists. It once went by the botanical name "Ficoidaceae", now disallowed. The APG II system of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system of 1998) also recognizes the family, and assigns it to the order Caryophyllales in the clade core eudicots. The APG II system also classes the former families Mesembryanthemaceae Fenzl, Sesuviaceae Horan. and Tetragoniaceae Link under the family Aizoaceae. The common Afrikaans name "vygie" meaning "small fig" refers to the fruiting capsule, which resembles the true fig. Glistening epidermal bladder cells give the family its common name "ice plants". Most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. '' Panthera leo'' (lion) and '' Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus '' Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes (the archaea and bacteria). By one definition, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (Latin name for "green plants") which is sister of the Glaucophyta, and consists of the green algae and Embryophyta (land plants). The latter includes the flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns and their allies, hornworts, liverworts, and mosses. Most plants are multicellular organisms. Green plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts that are derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. Their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic or mycotrophic and hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely Enclave and exclave, enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over Demographics of South Africa, 60 million people, the country is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecotype
In evolutionary ecology, an ecotype,Greek: ''οίκος'' = home and ''τύπος'' = type, coined by Göte Turesson in 1922 sometimes called ecospecies, describes a genetically distinct geographic variety, population, or race within a species, which is genotypically adapted to specific environmental conditions. Typically, though ecotypes exhibit phenotypic differences (such as in morphology or physiology) stemming from environmental heterogeneity, they are capable of interbreeding with other geographically adjacent ecotypes without loss of fertility or vigor. ''Ecology: From individuals to ecosystems'' by Begon, Townsend, Harper, Blackwell Publishing 4th ed. (2006), p.5,6,7,8''Environmental Encyclopedia'' by Bortman, Brimblecombe, Mary Ann Cunningham, William P. Cunningham, Freedman - 3rd ed., p.435, "Ecotype" Definition An ecotype is a variant in which the phenotypic differences are too few or too subtle to warrant being classified as a subspecies. These different variants ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haworthia
''Haworthia'' is a large genus of small succulent plants endemic to Southern Africa ( Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini and South Africa). Like the aloes, they are members of the subfamily Asphodeloideae and they generally resemble miniature aloes, except in their flowers, which are distinctive in appearance. They are popular garden and container plants. Description and characteristics ''Haworthias'' are small succulent plants, forming rosettes of leaves from to exceptionally in diameter, depending on the species. These rosettes are usually stemless but in some species stems reach up to . The inflorescences of some species may exceed in height. The plants can grow solitary or can be clump-forming. Many species have firm, tough, fleshy leaves, usually dark green in colour, whereas others are softer and contain leaf windows with translucent panels through which sunlight can reach internal photosynthetic tissues. Their flowers are small, and generally white. Tho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulbine
''Bulbine'' is a genus of plants in the family Asphodelaceae and subfamily Asphodeloideae, named for the bulb-shaped tuber of many species. It was formerly placed in the Liliaceae. It is found chiefly in Southern Africa, with a few species extending into tropical Africa and a few others in Australia and Yemen. ''Bulbine'' is a genus of succulent plants with flowers borne in lax or compound racemes. The flowers are usually yellow, with bearded stamens; some species have white, orange, or pink flowers. Several species are grown in gardens, especially '' B. frutescens''. Species of ''Bulbine'' resemble ''Haworthia'' and '' Aloe'' in appearance, but with soft, fleshy leaves and tuberous roots or a caudex. They are shrubs, weedy perennials, dwarf geophytes (including B. lolita, the smallest of all succulent Monocots ), and soft annuals. Many of the dwarf species have small, dome-shaped tubers. Dormancy usually extends from late spring to autumn, but it varies among species and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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