''Trianthema'' 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 in the ice plant 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 ...

. Members of the genus are annuals or

perennials A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

generally characterized by fleshy, opposite, unequal, smooth-margined leaves, a prostrate growth form, flowers with five perianth segments subtended by a pair of

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, and a fruit with a winged lid. The genus contains about 30 described species growing in tropical and subtropical regions, especially Australia. One common species, '' Trianthema portulacastrum'', desert horse purslane, is frequent as a weed in agricultural areas and is widely distributed.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Trianthema'' was first formally described in 1753 by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial names and was the ...

''.

Species list

The following is a list of species of ''Trianthema'' according to

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 ...

as at October 2020: * '' Trianthema argentinum''

Hunz. Armando Theodoro Hunziker (August 29, 1919 in Chacabuco, Argentina – December 12, 2001 in Córdoba, Argentina) was an Argentine botanist. He had specialized in the study of systems biology of the family Solanaceae, having contributed with ...

& A.A.Cocucci (Argentina) * '' Trianthema ceratosepalum''

Volkens Georg Ludwig August Volkens (13 July 1855 – 10 January 1917) was a German botanist born in Berlin. He studied natural sciences at the Universities of Berlin and Würzburg, graduating in 1882 with the thesis ''Ueber Wasserausscheidung in liquide ...

& Irmsch. (Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania) * '' Trianthema clavatum'' ( J.M.Black) H.E.K.Hartmann &

Liede The Liede is a little river that used to connect Haarlem Lake with the Spaarne, just south of Spaarndam, at a small lake called the Mooie Nel. After the lake was pumped dry in 1852, the Liede became a side-river of the Ringvaart The Ringva ...

(South Australia) * '' Trianthema compactum''

C.T.White Cyril Tenison ("C.T.") White (17 August 1890 – 15 August 1950) was an Australian botanist. Early life White was born in Brisbane to Henry White, a trade broker, and Louisa ''nee'' Bailey. He attended school at South Brisbane State School, an ...

(Queensland, Northern Territory)) * '' Trianthema corallicola'' H.E.K.Hartmann & Liede (Kenya, Somalia) * '' Trianthema corymbosum'' (

E.Mey. Ernst Heinrich Friedrich Meyer (1 January 1791 – 7 August 1858) was a German botanist and botanical historian. Born in Hanover, he lectured in Göttingen and in 1826 became a professor of botany at the University of Königsberg, as well as Dir ...

Sond. Otto Wilhelm Sonder (18 June 1812, Bad Oldesloe – 21 November 1881) was a German botanist and pharmacist. Life A native of Holstein, Sonder studied at Kiel University, where he sat pharmaceutical examinations in 1835, before becoming the prop ...

) H.E.K.Hartmann & Liede (South Africa) * '' Trianthema crystallinum'' ( Forssk.)

Vahl Vahl is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Christian-Friedrich Vahl (born 1955), German cardiac surgeon *Emanuel Vahl (born 1938), Ukrainian-Israeli composer * Herbert-Ernst Vahl, German SS general *Jens Vahl (1796–1854), Danish ...

(Bangladesh, Myanmar, Africa, Yemen, South Africa) * '' Trianthema cussackianum''

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 ...

(Western Australia) * '' Trianthema cypseleoides'' (

Fenzl Eduard Fenzl (1808, in Krummnußbaum – 1879, in Vienna) was an Austrian botanist. Life and contributions An obituary notes " was Professor of Botany and Director of the Imperial Botanical Cabinet, a member of the Vienna Academy of Science ...

)

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

(New South Wales) * '' Trianthema glossostigma'' F.Muell. (Northern Territory, Western Australia) * '' Trianthema hecatandrum'' Wingf. & M.F.Newman (Venezuela) * '' Trianthema hereroense''

Schinz Schinz is a Swiss surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Albert Schinz (1870–1943), Swiss-born U.S. editor and academic *Hans Schinz (1858–1941), Swiss explorer and botanist *Heinrich Rudolf Schinz Heinrich Rudolf Schinz (30 March ...

(Namibia) * '' Trianthema kimberleyi'' Bittrich & K.M.Jenssen (Western Australia) * '' Trianthema megaspermum'' A.M.Prescott (Northern Territory) * '' Trianthema mozambiquense'' H.E.K.Hartmann & Liede (Mozambique) * '' Trianthema oxycalyptrum'' F.Muell. (Northern Territory, Western Australia) * '' Trianthema pakistanense'' H.E.K.Hartmann & Liede (India, Pakistan) * '' Trianthema parvifolium'' E.Mey. ex Sond. (Angola, Botswana, Cape Provinces, Free State, Namibia, Northern Provinces) * '' Trianthema patellitectum'' A.M.Prescott (Northern Territory, Western Australia) * '' Trianthema pilosum'' F.Muell. (Australia) * '' Trianthema portulacastrum'' L. – Desert horse purslane (many continents) * '' Trianthema rhynchocalyptrum'' F.Muell. (Northern Territory, Queensland) * '' Trianthema salsoloides'' Fenzl ex

Oliv. Daniel Oliver, FRS (6 February 1830, Newcastle upon Tyne – 21 December 1916) was an English botanist. He was Librarian of the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1860–1890 and Keeper there from 1864–1890, and Professor of Botany at ...

(Angola, Botswana, Cape Provinces, Free State, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Sudan, Tanzania)) * '' Trianthema sanguineum''

& Irmsch. (Kenya, Tanzania) * '' Trianthema sheilae'' A.G.Mill. & J.Nyberg (Eritea, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen) * '' Trianthema triquetrum''

Willd. Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was also ...

Spreng. Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (3 August 1766 – 15 March 1833) was a German botanist and physician who published an influential multivolume history of medicine, ''Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Arzneikunde'' (1792–99 in four vo ...

(Sahara to Sahel to South Africa, Indian subcontinent, to Thailand, North-east Jawa to Lesser Sunda Island, Australia) * '' Trianthema turgidifolium'' F.Muell. (Northern Territory, Western Australia) * '' Trianthema ufoense'' H.E.K.Hartmann & Liede (Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia) * '' Trianthema vleiense'' H.E.K.Hartmann & Liede (Cape Provinces, Free State, Northern Provinces)

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment
{{Taxonbar, from=Q136766 Aizoaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus