Montinia | |
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Montinia caryophyllacea, Western Cape, South Africa | |
Conservation status | |
Least Concern (SANBI Red List) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Solanales |
Family: | Montiniaceae |
Genus: | Montinia Thunb. |
Species: | M. caryophyllacea |
Binomial name | |
Montinia caryophyllacea Thunb. | |
Synonyms | |
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Montinia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Montiniaceae. It only contains one known species, Montinia caryophyllacea Thunb.
Its native range is Southern Africa. It is found in Angola, Botswana, the Cape Provinces (of South Africa) and Namibia. It grows on dry, rocky, sandstone or granite slopes.
Description
It is an upright, greyish, dioecious shrublet. It has male and female flowers on separate plants. It grows up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) tall. It has leathery, elliptical shaped and sometimes tufted leaves. They are 15–70 mm (1–3 in) long, pale green, smooth and have a dull, waxy coating. It blossoms between May and October and bears small waxy, white flowers, either in loose clusters on the male plants or 1 or 2 flowers on the females plants. The flowers have 4 petals. After flowering, the plant produces an ovoid shaped, seed capsule or 'fruit', which is often dry and brown, and shuttle-shaped. It is 15–20 mm (1–1 in) long. The husk splits into 2 halves to release the seeds. Small flatten discs with membranous wings.
Taxonomy
It has several Afrikaans common names: such as Bergklapper, Bergklapperbos, Bergklapperbossie, Donkiebos, Klokkiesbos, Peperbos, Peperbossie, Perdebos, Wildenaeltjiebos and T'iena. It also has a couple of English common names, Wild clove-bush and Pepperbush.
The genus name of Montinia is in honour of Lars Jonasson Montin (1723–1785), a Swedish botanist and doctor in Lund and Halland. He had maintained a large herbarium and was a student of Carl Linnaeus. The Latin specific epithet of caryophyllacea refers to karyophyllon, the Greek word for Clove. It was first described and published in Physiogr. Sälsk. Handl. Vol.1 on pages 108–109 in 1776.
References
- "SANBI Red List of South African Plants". South African National Biodiversity Institute Threatened Species Programme. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ "Montinia Thunb. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ "Montinia caryophyllacea Thunb. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- "Montinia caryophyllacea | /RHS Gardening". www.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Montinia caryophyllacea". www.fernkloof.org.za. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Kyffhäuser flora – Montinia caryophyllacea". www.kyffhauser.co.za. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- Burkhardt, Lotte (2018). Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition [Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2018. ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5. S2CID 187926901. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
Taxon identifiers | |
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Montinia | |
Montinia caryophyllacea |
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