''Hartmanthus'' is a genus of

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

, succulent

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 Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to the lower

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...

in ǁKaras,

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Description

Plants grow as densely leaved

dwarf shrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

s. Their leaves are up to 70mm long, 15mm wide, and 20mm thick; they have a smooth, firm surface and remain attached for years after drying out.

Inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is in the form of 75-117 white to pink flowers 45-55mm in size;

internodes A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, stores nutrien ...

are orange. Its seeds are egg-shaped, reddish-brown and are 0.9mm to 1mm in length.

Taxonomy

Plants in ''Hartmanthus'' were placed in ''

Delosperma ''Delosperma'' ('delos'=evident, 'sperma'=seed) is a genus of around 170 species of succulent plants, formerly included in ''Mesembryanthemum'' in the family Aizoaceae. It was defined by English botanist N. E. Brown in 1925. The genus is common i ...

'' by Louisa Bolus and were separated in 1995.

Species

* '' Hartmanthus hallii'' (L. Bolus) * '' Hartmanthus pergamentaceus'' (L. Bolus)

References

* Aizoaceae Aizoaceae genera Flora of Namibia Flora of South Africa Flora of Southern Africa Succulent plants {{aizoaceae-stub