''Gunniopsis tenuifolia'', commonly known as the narrow-leaf pigface, is a

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 ...

plant in the iceplant family,

Aizoaceae The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is d ...

. It is endemic to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The perennial glabrous shrub has a rounded habit and typically grows to a height of . It has a reddish tinge to the branchlets. The terete yellow-green leaves are approximately long and wide. It blooms between August and January producing small green-yellow flowers. It is found on rocky lopes of low hills, clay flats and depressions that flood periodically flooding usually in open mallee woodland areas in central

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, between Leigh Creek and Arckaringa where it grows in clay soils.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described by

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 ...

in 1983 in the article ''The Australian genus Gunniopsis Pax (Aizoaceae)'' in the ''Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''tenuifolia'') is from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''tenuifolius'', meaning "slender-leaved".Chinnock, R. J. (1983). The Australian genus ''Gunniopsis'' Pax (Aizoaceae). ''Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 6''(2): 133-179.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15590958 tenuifolia Flora of South Australia Plants described in 1983