''Ruschia'' is a genus of succulent
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...
, in the family
Aizoaceae
The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies in South Africa and Ne ...
, indigenous to the dryer parts of
southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
.
Description
Typical features of the genus include grey or blue-green succulent leaves, that are 3-sided or triangular in cross-section and are often covered with tiny darker transparent spots. Occasionally the leaves also have toothed margins.
Another common feature is the small, year-round, pink or white flower clusters.
[J. Manning: ''Field Guide to Fynbos''. Struik, 2007. p.334.]
The genus can be distinguished with certainty though, by its seed capsules. As with most Aizoaceae, these are
hygrochastic, with triangular valves that open and close with changes in humidity. The seed capsule valves of ''Ruschia'' have a little closing body to pull them closed when they dry again, and two keels on either side of the closing body, which expand and push open the valve. There is a covering membrane too, which partially covers the seeds, to prevent them all being washed away immediately.
In contrast, the seed chambers of ''
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 ...
'' have no covering membrane, leaving the seeds entirely exposed when the capsule opens. The seed chamber valves of genus ''
Lampranthus
''Lampranthus'' is a genus of succulent plants in the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to southern Africa.
Description
The genus name ''"Lampranthus"'' means ''"shining-flowers"'' in Greek, and the species of this genus have unusually large, bright ...
'' have only the two expanding keels while the closing body is present, but not visible, and ''Lampranthus'' valves also have wings on either side.
Species
Over 400 species are described, though many have subsequently been moved to the new genus ''
Antimima''. 208 species are accepted by
Plants of the World Online.
Species occur in
Lesotho,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
(including the Cape Provinces, Free State and Northern Provinces) and
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 ...
:
References
Aizoaceae genera
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Plants described in 1926
Flora of Southern Africa
{{Aizoaceae-stub