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Lampranthus N.E.Br.

Reference
Gard.Chron. p211 (1930)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Family Aizoaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Small, erect or prostrate shrubs (with reddish branchlets). Plants succulent. Leaves cauline. Plants with a basal concentration of leaves, or with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves. Young stems cylindrical, or oval in section. Stem internodes solid. Xerophytic. Leaves minute to medium-sized; opposite; fleshy; imbricate to not imbricate; shortly petiolate, or subsessile; shortly connate; simple; epulvinate. Leaf blades entire; solid; solid/angular (three-angled). Leaves with stipules, or without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire (leaf surface densely dotted giving edge a denticulate appearance). Vegetative buds not scaly. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hairs absent. Urticating hairs absent. Extra-floral nectaries absent. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent, or anomalous; via concentric cambia (in the woodier genera,), or from a single cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Entomophilous (diurnal).

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary; pedicellate (9–21 mm long); ebracteate; ebracteolate; small, or medium-sized; regular; cyclic; pentacyclic to polycyclic. Free hypanthium present; incorporating calyx, staminodes and stamens. Perianth sepaline (considered apetalous, but with colourful, conspicuous staminodal ‘petals’); 5. Calyx present; 5 (approximately equal); 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; 3 segments with membranous margins which dry a dark brown; regular; fleshy; persistent. Corolla absent. Androecial members indefinite in number. Androecium 50–200 (i.e. ‘many’). Androecial members branched. Androecial sequence determinable. Androecial members maturing centrifugally; all equal; free of one another; 3–16 -whorled (i.e to ‘many whorls’). Androecium including staminodes. Staminodes 20–50 (many); petaloid (white, yellow or purple). Stamens 20–100 (many); polystemonous; filantherous. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Pollen shed as single grains. Fertile gynoecium present, or absent (in male flowers). Gynoecium 5 carpelled. The pistil 5 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious to synstylovarious; inferior. Ovary plurilocular; 5 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 5. Stigmas 5. Placentation parietal. Ovules 20–50 per locule (many); arillate, or non-arillate; anatropous, or campylotropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule; 5 celled; 20–100 seeded (many). Seeds non-endospermic. Perisperm present (mealy). Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo curved.

Etymology. From the Greek for "bright" and "flower", referring to the profusion and colour of the flowers.

J. Gathe and Leslie Watson, 8 September 2016

Taxonomic Literature

  • Wheeler, Judy; Marchant, Neville; Lewington, Margaret; Graham, Lorraine 2002. Flora of the south west, Bunbury, Augusta, Denmark. Volume 2, dicotyledons. Australian Biological Resources Study.. Canberra..
  • Australia. Bureau of Flora and Fauna 1984. Flora of Australia. Volume 4, Phytolaccaceae to Chenopodiaceae. Australian Govt. Pub. Service.. Canberra..