Didierea madagascariensis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Caryophyllales |
Family: | Didiereaceae |
Genus: | Didierea |
Species: | D. madagascariensis |
Binomial name | |
Didierea madagascariensis Baill. (1880) | |
Synonyms | |
Didierea mirabilis Baill.; Alluaudiopsis marnieriana Rauh |
Didierea madagascariensis, commonly known as the octopus tree, is a species of Didiereaceae endemic to the spiny thickets of southwestern Madagascar. It was first described scientifically by the French botanist Henri Ernest Baillon in 1880 and is the type species of the genus Didierea.
It is known in Malagasy as sohongy, sony and soribarika. Sohongy and sony come from the Tanosy dialect word songo meaning "lock of hair" or a rooster's crest or comb possibly referring to its branches that sprawl upwards.
Description
As with all members of the sub-family Didiereoideae, this is a semi-succulent woody, shrub to small tree. It is densely spiny and can grow up to 10 metres (33 ft) tall. Spines are arranged in whorls, mostly of four. Leaves are small and narrow-lanceolate and arranged in rosettes.
References
- Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Jul 2019 <http://www.tropicos.org/Name/10700010>
- Couzens, Dominic (2008). Top 100 Birding Sites of the World. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-520-25932-4.
- Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- Baillon, Henri Ernest (1880). "Sur le Didierra". Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Paris (in French). 1: 258–259.
- de La Beaujardière, Jean-Marie, ed. (2001). "Botanical scientific names". Malagasy Dictionary and Malagasy Encyclopedia.
- Boiteau, Pierre (1999). "sony". Dictionnaire des noms malgaches de végétaux (in French). Vol. III. Editions Alzieu – via Malagasy Dictionary and Malagasy Encyclopedia.
- ^ Rauh, W. 1983. The morphology and systematic position of the Didiereaceae of Madagascar. Blumea 14(3/4): 839–843.
- Dixon, R. (1995). "The Didiereaceae of southern Madagascar". Aloe. 32 (3/4): 72–73. ISSN 0002-6301.
External links
- Media related to
Didierea madagascariensis at Wikimedia Commons
Taxon identifiers | |
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Didierea madagascariensis |
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