Gunniopsis septifraga
| Gunniopsis septifraga | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Aizoaceae |
| Genus: | Gunniopsis |
| Species: | G. septifraga
|
| Binomial name | |
| Gunniopsis septifraga | |
Gunniopsis septifraga, commonly known as green pigface,[1] is a succulent plant in the iceplant family, Aizoaceae. It is endemic to Australia.[2]
Description
The caespitose annual herb with a prostrate habit typically grows to a height of 5 centimetres (2.0 in) and a width of 15 cm (6 in). The stems are thick, yellow in colour and glabrous to sparsely hairy. Leaves are obtuse and have an oblong to oblanceolate shape and are up to 5 mm (0.20 in) long.[3] It blooms between July and October producing green-yellow flowers.[2] Flowers are sessile or shortly pedicellate with perianth segments that are 2.5 to 6 mm (0.10 to 0.24 in) in length. A capsule forms later that is subglobose below and then tapers to a cylindrical apex, containing seeds that are wrinkled.[3]
Distribution
It is found in saline areas in both coastal and inland areas of the Mid West, Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy to clay soils.[2] G. septifraga is also found in arid inland areas of the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales.[3]
Classification
The species was first formally described as Gunnia septifraga by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1859 as part of the work Report on the Plants Collected During Mr. Babbage's Expedition into the North West Interior of South Australia in 1858. George Bentham described the plant in 1867 as Gunnia drummondii, both of these names were later reclassified as Neogunnia septifraga and Neogunnia drummondii by Ferdinand Pax and Käthe Hoffmann in Adolf Engler and Karl Anton Eugen Prantl's 1934 work Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien Both were later reclassified by Robert Chinnock in 1983 in the article The Australian genus Gunniopsis Pax (Aizoaceae) in the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.[4]
References
- ^ "Gunniopsis septifraga (Aizoaceae) Green Pigface". Seeds of South Australia. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
- ^ a b c "Gunniopsis septifraga". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b c "Gunniopsis septifraga (F.Muell.) Chinnock". PlantNET. National herbarium of New South Wales. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
- ^ "Gunniopsis septifraga (F.Muell.) Chinnock". Atlas of Living Australia. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 16 January 2017.