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Subfamily: Mesembryanthemoideae (mesems in
part)
Life
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Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
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> Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Order: Caryophyllales > Family: Aizoaceae
The subfamilies Mesembryanthemoideae and Ruschioideae
make up the group of succulents loosely termed the mesems that in some
classifications are placed in a separate family, the Mesembryanthemaceae. In
this classification they are placed in the Aizoaceae because evidence suggests
that mesems were derived from within this group (see under Aizoaceae
for more information).
Genera native to southern Africa
List from from Chesselet et al. (2000).
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Aptenia
Four
species, native mainly to the summer rainfall region of southern Africa. Grown
widely as an ornamental. |
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Aridaria
Four
species, native to karroid areas of Namibia and Western, Eastern and
Northern Cape. |
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Aspazoma
One species:
Aspazoma amplectens, native to Namaqualand. |
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Brownanthus
Fourteen species, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Caulipsolon
One
species: Caulipsolon rapaceum, native to Namaqualand. |
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Dactylopsis
One species, Dactylopsis digitata, endemic to the Western Cape. |
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Mesembryanthemum
Sixteen species, native to the arid western and central regions of southern
Africa, extending into Namibia. Species in North Africa, the Mediterranean
region, California, on the west coast of South America and in Australia,
are thought to have been introduced to these regions. |
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Phyllobolus
Thirty-one
species, native to southern Namibia and the western and central parts of
southern Africa. |
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Prenia
Six species, native to the karroid areas of Namibia and Western, Eastern and
Northern Cape. |
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Psilocaulon
Thirteen species, native to the arid regions of South Africa, Namibia and southern
Angola. |
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Sceletium
Eight
species, native to the karroid areas of Northern, Western and Eastern
Cape. |
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Synaptophyllum
One
species: Synaptophyllum juttae, native to the fog zone near Luderitz
in Namibia |
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Publications
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Chesselet, P., Smith, G.F., Burgoyne, P.M.,
Klak, C., Hammer, S.A., Hartmann, H.E.K., Kurzweil, H., van Jaarsveld, E.J.,
van Wyk, B-E. & Leistner, O.A. 2000. Mesembryanthemaceae. In: Seed Plants of
Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 360-410.
National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
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