''Alluaudia'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family

Didiereaceae Didiereaceae is a family of flowering plants found in continental Africa and Madagascar. It contains 20 species classified in three subfamilies and six genera. Species of the family are succulent plants, growing in sub-arid to arid habitats. Seve ...

. There are six species, all

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. Most occur in the southwestern subarid forest-thicket vegetation of the island. Species of ''Alluaudia'' are

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

, with male and female flowers on separate plants. Spines are arranged around the leaves as a defense against herbivores. The spines are several meters above the ground, and probably evolved in response to herbivory by now-extinct

lemur Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 exist ...

s, such as ''

Hadropithecus ''Hadropithecus'' ("bulky ape" from Greek ἁδρός (hadros), "bulky, large" + πίθηκος (pithekos), "ape") is a medium-sized, extinct genus of lemur, or strepsirrhine primate, from Madagascar that includes a single species, ''Hadrop ...

''. Several lemur species living today feed heavily on ''Alluaudia'', such as the

ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' ge ...

(''Lemur catta'') and the

white-footed sportive lemur The white-footed sportive lemur, white-footed weasel lemur, or dry-bush weasel lemur (''Lepilemur leucopus'') is a species of lemur in the family Lepilemuridae, the sportive lemurs. It is similar in appearance to other lemurs in the family, with ...

(''Lepilemur leucopus'').Crowley, B. E. and L. R. Godfrey. (2013)
Why all those spines?: Anachronistic defences in the Didiereoideae against now extinct lemurs.
''South African Journal of Science'' 109(1-2), 1-7.

Species

References

External links

GRIN Species Records of ''Alluaudia''.
Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). * http://worldofsucculents.com/how-to-grow-and-care-for-alluaudia/ Didiereaceae Caryophyllales genera Endemic flora of Madagascar Dioecious plants {{Caryophyllales-stub