''Disphyma crassifolium'', commonly known as round-leaved pigface, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae and is native to Australia and the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It is a

prostrate Prostrate may refer to:- *Prostration, a position of submission in religion etc. *Prone position, a face-down orientation of the body *Prostrate shrub A prostrate shrub is a woody plant, most of the branches of which lie upon or just above the ...

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

annual shrub or short-lived Perennial plant with stems up to long, leaves that are three-sided in cross-section with a rounded lower angle, and purple daisy-like flowers with staminodes up to long.

Description

''Disphyma crassifolium'' is a prostrate, succulent, annual or short-lived perennial shrub that typically grows to a height of and has stems up to long. Its leaves are club-shaped, more or less round to three-sided in cross-section, long and wide. The flowers are wide with a perianth tube wide, the longer lobes long with purple, petal-like

staminode In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. ...

s 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 long and wide before opening.

Taxonomy

''Disphyma crassifolium'' was first published in 1753 as ''Mesembryanthemum crassifolium'' by Carl Linnaeus in ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...

'' from species collected in southern Africa. In 1925,

Nicholas Edward Brown 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, including Asclepiadacea ...

raised the genus ''

Disphyma ''Disphyma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae that are native to New Zealand, Australia and southern Africa. Plants in this genus are prostrate, annual or short-lived perennial shrubs with succulent leaves and daisy-like flo ...

'' in '' The Gardeners' Chronicle'' and in 1927

Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus '' née'' Kensit (31 July 1877, Burgersdorp – 5 April 1970, Cape Town) was a South African botanist and taxonomist, and the longtime curator of the Bolus Herbarium, from 1903. Bolus also has the legacy of auth ...

moved Linnaeus's ''M. crassifolium'' into the new genus as ''Disphyma crassifolium'' in the botanical magazine ''

Flowering Plants of South Africa ''Flowering Plants of Africa'' is a series of illustrated botanical magazines akin to ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine'', initiated as ''Flowering Plants of South Africa'' by I. B. Pole-Evans in 1920. It is now published by the South African Natio ...

''. 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. In 1976,

Robert Chinnock Robert James "Bob" Chinnock (born 3 July 1943) is a New Zealand-born Australian botanist who worked at the State Herbarium of South Australia as a senior biologist. He retired in 2008 but still works as an honorary research associate. His resear ...

moved ''M. clavellatum'' to the genus ''Disphyma'' as ''D. clavellatum'' in the '' New Zealand Journal of Botany''. Then, in 1986,

John Peter Jessop John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

reduced ''Disphyma clavellatum'' to a subspecies, ''Disphyma crassifolium'' subsp. ''clavellatum'' in ''Flora of South Australia'', a name accepted by the Australian Plant Census and

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

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.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17024717 Aizoaceae Plants described in 1753 Flora of Australia Flora of the Cape Provinces Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus