Drosanthemum micans
Drosanthemum micans (the "Robertson vygie"), is a succulent plant in the ice plant family, Aizoaceae, indigenous to the Robertson Karoo and Overberg regions of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Drosanthemum micans | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Aizoaceae |
Genus: | Drosanthemum |
Species: | D. micans |
Binomial name | |
Drosanthemum micans (L.) Schwantes | |
Description
The flowers of this species appear in Spring, and they typically have yellow inner petals with red outer petals.[1][2]
Related species
Drosanthemum micans is part of a group of similar Drosanthemum species, in subgenus "Speciosa". These nine species all have black filamentous staminodes in the centre of their flowers, they are all small, erect shrubs, and they all occur in the southern Cape, South Africa.
Other species of Drosanthemum subgenus Speciosa include: Drosanthemum bellum, Drosanthemum boerhavii, Drosanthemum edwardsiae, Drosanthemum hallii, Drosanthemum lavisii, Drosanthemum pulchrum, Drosanthemum speciosum, and Drosanthemum uniondalense.[3]
Distribution
Drosanthemum micans is endemic to the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Its distribution range extends from near Worcester in the west, eastwards to Ashton and Montagu, and southwards into the Swellendam and Riversdale districts.
Its habitat is gravelly-to-cobbley alluvial terraces (tertiary pediment gravels). It is frequently found in weathered Malmesbury shale rocks. The surrounding vegetation is usually shale or alluvial renosterveld or transition areas between renosterveld and fynbos vegetation types.[4]
References
- "Drosanthemum micans | PlantZAfrica". pza.sanbi.org. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- H.E.K. Hartmann The identity of Drosanthemum micans (Aizoaceae) Bradleya 2011.
- Hartmann, H. & Roux, A.. (2011). Drosanthemum subgenus Speciosa (Aizoaceae): Towards a revision of the plants with black staminodes. Bradleya. 29. 143-178. 10.25223/brad.n29.2011.a18.
- "Threatened Species Programme | SANBI Red List of South African Plants". redlist.sanbi.org. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- Media related to Drosanthemum micans at Wikimedia Commons