''Sarcozona'', commonly known as pigfaces,
is a genus of two species of flowering plants 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 ...
, both species
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to Australia. They are small, erect or low-lying,
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 ...
perennials with leaves that are triangular in cross-section and arranged in opposite pairs, and daisy-like flowers with twenty to eighty petal-like
staminodes
In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen, which means that it does not produce pollen.Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; ''A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent''; Published by Gerald Duckworth & C ...
and up to 150
stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s.
Description
Plants in the genus ''Sarcozona'' are small, erect to low-lying or more or less prostrate, succulent,
glabrous perennials with
sessile
Sessility, or sessile, may refer to:
* Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about
* Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant
* Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...
leaves arranged in opposite pairs, stem-clasping and triangular in cross-section. The flowers are daisy-like and arranged singly or in pairs with two leaves fused together and partly enclosing the flowers. The
perianth
The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ...
is tube-shaped with four or five lobes, with between twenty and eighty petal-like staminodes surrounding between 20 and 150 white stamens and four
styles. The fruit is a succulent
capsule containing a large number of seeds.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Sarcozona'' was first formally described in 1934 by
John McConnell Black in ''
''. The first species he described was ''S. pulleinei'', now known as ''
S. praecox''.
Species list
The following species are accepted by the
Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Syst ...
as at October 2020:
* ''
Sarcozona bicarinata''
S.T.Blake
Stanley Thatcher Blake (1910 – 24 February 1973) was an Australian botanist who served as president of the Royal Society of Queensland and who was associated with the Queensland Herbarium beginning in 1945 until his death.
Background
Prior to ...
– S.A., W.A.
* ''
Sarcozona praecox''
(F.Muell.
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victo ...
) S.T.Blake – N.S.W., Qld., S.A., Vic., W.A.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15883868
Aizoaceae genera
Taxa named by John McConnell Black
Flora of Australia