''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 exclud ...

, in the 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 ...

, 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 of ...

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 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 ...

. Species occur in

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

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 ...

(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 ...

: File:Ruschia maxima - clanwilliam RSA.jpg, '' Ruschia maxima'' File:Ruschia karooica foliage.jpg, '' Ruschia karooica'' File:Ruschia lineolata 9.jpg, '' Ruschia lineolata'' File:Spiny Ruschia (Ruschia spinosa) (32740893156).jpg, '' Ruschia spinosa'' File:Ruschia uncinata 1c.JPG, '' Ruschia uncinata'' File:Ruschia pulvinaris 1.jpg, ''

Ruschia pulvinaris ''Ruschia'' is a genus of succulent plant, in the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to the dryer parts of southern Africa. Description Typical features of the genus include grey or blue-green succulent leaves, that are 3-sided or triangular in cross- ...

'' File:Ruschia crassa KirstenboschBotGard09292010A.JPG, '' Ruschia crassa''

References

Aizoaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1926 Flora of Southern Africa {{Aizoaceae-stub