Round-leaved pigface
Disphyma crassifolium
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Aizoaceae
Subfamily: Ruschioideae
Tribe: Ruschieae
Genus: Disphyma
Species:
D. crassifolium
Binomial name
Disphyma crassifolium

Disphyma crassifolium, commonly known as round-leaved pigface[2] or salty fingers[3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae native to Australia and the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It is a prostrate, succulent annual shrub or short-lived perennial plant with stems up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long, leaves that are three-sided in cross-section with a rounded lower angle, and purple daisy-like flowers with staminodes up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long.

Description

Disphyma crassifolium is a prostrate, succulent, annual or short-lived perennial shrub that typically grows to a height of 2–30 cm (0.79–11.81 in) and has stems up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long. Its leaves are club-shaped, more or less round to three-sided in cross-section, 5–70 mm (0.20–2.76 in) long and 1–7 mm (0.039–0.276 in) wide. The flowers are 20–50 mm (0.79–1.97 in) wide with a perianth tube 6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in) wide, the longer lobes 2–30 mm (0.079–1.181 in) long with purple, petal-like staminodes 110–30 mm (4.3–1.2 in) long that are white on the lower surface. Flowering mainly occurs from October to February and the fruit is a conical capsule that is about 10 mm (0.39 in) long and wide before opening.[2][4]

Taxonomy

Disphyma crassifolium was first published in 1753 as Mesembryanthemum crassifolium by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum from species collected in southern Africa.[5][6][7] In 1925, Nicholas Edward Brown raised the genus Disphyma in The Gardeners' Chronicle[8] and in 1927 Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus moved Linnaeus's M. crassifolium into the new genus as Disphyma crassifolium in the botanical magazine Flowering Plants of South Africa.[9]

In 1803, Adrian Hardy Haworth described Mesmbryanthemum clavellatum in his book Miscellanea Naturalia, sive Dissertationes Variae ad Historiam Naturalem Spectantes from plants raised from seed collected in Australia by Robert Brown.[10] In 1976, Robert Chinnock moved M. clavellatum to the genus Disphyma as D. clavellatum in the New Zealand Journal of Botany.[11][12] Then, in 1986, John Peter Jessop reduced Disphyma clavellatum to a subspecies, Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum in Flora of South Australia,[13] a name accepted by the Australian Plant Census and Plants of the World Online.[14][15]

Distribution and habitat

Disphyma crassifolium is widely distributed in South Africa and Australia. It grows in saline areas such as coastal dunes and samphire flats, and tolerates a range of soils including sand, loam and clay.[2][4]

References

  1. "Disphyma crassifolium". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Venning, Julianne. "Disphyma crassifolium". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  3. "Salty Fingers (Disphyma crassifolium) Identification".
  4. 1 2 "Disphyma crassifolium (L.) L.Bolus". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  5. "Mesembryanthemum crassifolium". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  6. Linnaeus, Carl (1753). Species Plantarum. p. 484. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  7. Haworth, Adrian H. (1803). Miscellanea Naturalia, sive Dissertationes Variae ad Historiam Naturalem Spectantes. London: J. Taylor. p. 78. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  8. "Disphyma". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  9. "Disphyma crassifolium". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  10. Haworth, Adrian H. (1803). Miscellanea Naturalia, sive Dissertationes Variae ad Historiam Naturalem Spectantes. London: J. Taylor. p. 79. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  11. "Disphyma clavellatum". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  12. Chinnock, R. J. (March 1976). "Studies in Disphyma — a genus related to Mesembryanthemum: 2. Infraspecific subdivision of Disphyma australe and notes on the Australian species of Disphyma". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 14 (1): 78. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1976.10428653.
  13. "Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum". APNI. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  14. "Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  15. "Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum (Haw.) Chinnock". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
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