''Stayneria'' (or 'white-flowered mesemb') is a genus of
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 belonging to 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 ...
.
It contains a single species, ''Stayneria neilii''.
It is in the subfamily Ruschioideae and the tribe Ruschieae.
It is native to the
Cape Provinces
The Cape Provinces of South Africa is a biogeographical area used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It is part of the WGSRPD region 27 Southern Africa. The area has the code "CPP". It includes the Sout ...
of the South African Republic.
It grows on acid, quartzitic sandstone soil among rocks with taller shrubby vegetation.
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]
Conservation status
It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red Data List due to habitat loss caused by the expansion of nearby vineyards
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...
.[
]
Description
''Stayneria neilii'' is a stout woody shrub of up to 1.5 m in height, bearing reddish brown stems with persistent hardened remains of old leaves. The stem-clasping leaves are dark green, three-sided with a sharp bottom edge and smell like berries. Fragrant leaves in the Aizoaceae family are uncommon and therefore this is an almost unique characteristic rarely found in other genera. Small daisy-like white to pink flowers are arranged in terminal groups of three to seven and borne during the winter and early spring (July to September in the southern hemisphere).
Taxonomy
The genus name of ''Stayneria'' is in honour of Frank J. Stayner (1907–1981), a South African horticulturist and specialist in succulents. He was also the curator at the Karoo
The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...
botanical garden. The Latin specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
of ''neilii'' refers to the 20th century South African dairy farmer and nurseryman Mr Neil.[ The genus was first described and published in J. S. African Bot. Vol.27 on page 47 in 1960.][
The genus is recognized by the ]United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...
and the Agricultural Research Service
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...
, but they do not list any known species.
References
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q644332, from2=Q17244148
Aizoaceae
Aizoaceae genera
Plants described in 1845
Flora of the Cape Provinces
Taxa named by Louisa Bolus
Monotypic Caryophyllales genera