''Pollichia campestris'', commonly known as waxberry or barley sugar bush, is a

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

in the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...

and the only species in the monotypic genus ''Pollichia''. It is found in southern and eastern Africa and in the Arabian peninsula.

Taxonomy

''Pollichia campestris'' was first described in 1789 by the Scottish botanist

William Aiton William Aiton (17312 February 1793) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist. Aiton was born near Hamilton, Scotland, Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Phi ...

in the publication ''

Hortus Kewensis ''Hortus Kewensis, or a Catalogue of the Plants Cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew'' by William Aiton was a 1789 catalogue of all the plant species then in cultivation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is ...

'', a catalogue of all the plants then being cultivated at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

Description

''Pollichia campestris'' is a much-branched

subshrub 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 ...

growing to a height of about . The erect stems have a covering of fine hairs when young. The leaves are greyish-green and hairy at first, measuring up to , narrowly

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

or elliptical, with acute apexes, short stalks and small, membranous stipules. The inflorescence is a small, pubescent cyme growing in the axil of a leaf; the flowers are greenish-yellow with white

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. The fruit is a capsule with a persistent receptacle and calyx, and the bracts become swollen and fleshy, waxy-white or dull orange.

Distribution and habitat

''Pollichia campestris'' is native to the Arabian peninsula, eastern Africa and southern Africa. Its range extends from Saudi Arabia and Yemen, through Eritrea and southwards in East Africa to Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Its typical habitat is

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natural ...

, thickets, and open woodland on light, sandy soils, at elevations of up to .

Ecology

This is a common plant throughout much of Africa. It often forms part of the

subcanopy In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns. In forest ecology, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns an ...

in the Kalahari thornveld region of South Africa, but in Botswana it often grows in more open habitats. The fruits are attractive to birds and the seeds of this species are dispersed by them. The fruits are also eaten by people, the foliage is browsed by animals and the plant is used in

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

to treat

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

and chest problems.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15941288, from2=Q9061483 Caryophyllaceae Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of Northeast Tropical Africa Flora of Saudi Arabia Flora of South Tropical Africa Flora of Southern Africa Flora of Yemen Monotypic Caryophyllaceae genera