Cheiridopsis N. E. Br.
Creators: name: Powell, Robyn F.
name: Boatwright, James S.
name: Klak, Cornelia
name: Magee, Anthony R.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Caryophyllales
Aizoaceae
Cheiridopsis

description: 1. <i>Cheiridopsis</i> N.E.Br., Gard. Chron 3: 412 (1925), emend. nov. R.F.Powell. Type: <i>C. rostrata</i>. <i>Ihlenfeldtia</i> H.E.K.Hartmann, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 114 (1992), <b>syn. nov.</b> Type: <i>I. excavata</i> (L.Bolus) H.E.K.Hartmann = <i>Cheiridopsis excavata</i> L.Bolus. <i>Odontophorus</i> N.E.Br., Gard. Chron 3: 12 (1927), <b>syn. nov.</b> Type: <i>O. marlothii</i> N.E.Br. = <i>Cheiridopsis marlothii</i> (N.E.Br.) R.F.Powell. Succulent, perennial shrubs, compact to caespitose or rarely mat-forming, 50–300 mm in height. <i>Leaves</i> isophyllous, with subsequent leaf pairs equal along stem or heterophyllous, with subsequent leaf pairs unequal along stem; triquetrous to trigonous, sometimes rhombic, 4–150 mm long; leaf surface sometimes rough, formed by elevations above subhypodermal idioblasts or velvety; mucronate, sometimes with dentate margins or keels, epidermis papillate, with epidermal cells forming blunt papillae or trichomes; old leaves forming sheaths which usually only partially enclose the emerging leaf pair (fully enclose the emerging leaf pair in only a few species, i.e. <i>C. meyeri</i>, <i>C. minor</i>, <i>C. namaquensis</i>, <i>C. peculiaris</i>). <i>Flowers</i> solitary; pedicels 30–90 mm; radiate, 30–70 mm in diameter; petaloid staminodes free, cream to yellow, rarely orange, red or magenta, sometimes magenta-suffused. <i>Capsules</i> woody, pedicels decumbent or erect, top flat to centrally elevated or rounded, base funnel-shaped to semi-globose; 8–18 locules; covering membranes undulate in radial direction, often with elevations in subcentral position, sometimes as prominent bulges, humps or tubes, rarely flat; closing bodies usually large, blocking at least ¾ of locule, seldom smaller, blocking at least ½ of locule; valve wings broad, equal in width to valve, or narrow, 1 / 3 width of valve, sometimes reduced to awns. <i>Seeds</i> flat to round, light to darker brown, smooth to papillate. Species previously recognized in other genera or subgenera are indicated in bold. ? = missing data/unknown. <i>Diagnostic characters and distribution</i>: <i>Cheiridopsis</i> now includes 38 species classified into three subgenera, <i>Cheiridopsis</i>, <i>Aequifoliae</i> and <i>Odontophoroides</i>. The genus is characterized by the old leaves that form sheaths enclosing the emerging leaf pair partially, but sometimes fully (Fig. 8 C, E) and the large multilocular woody capsules, with 8–18 locules (Fig. 7 C, D). <i>Cheiridopsis</i> spp. are also compact to caespitose, rarely mat-forming. The diversity of the genus is centred in the Springbok-Steinkopf Region (Fig. 6 A) and the distribution follows the winter-rainfall region of southern Africa, with few outliers outside of the winter-rainfall region. The distribution extends from southern Namibia, southwards to Langebaan and eastwards to Pofadder (Fig. 6 A). 2. KEY TO THE SUBGENERA IN <i> <i>CHEIRIDOPSIS</i> </i> 1. Pedicel decumbent, leaves heterophyllous.............................. <b> 3.1. <i>Cheiridopsis</i> subgenus <i>Cheiridopsis</i></b> 1. Pedicel erect; leaves isophyllous...............................2 2. Capsule top rounded...................................................... <b> 3.2. <i>Cheiridopsis</i> subgenus <i>Odontophoroides</i></b> 2. Capsule top flat to centrally elevated....................................... <b> 3.3. <i>Cheiridopsis</i> subgenus <i>Aequifoliae</i></b>
description: Published as part of <i>Powell, Robyn F., Boatwright, James S., Klak, Cornelia &amp; Magee, Anthony R., 2017, Inclusion of Ihlenfeldtia and Odontophorus in Cheiridopsis (Ruschioideae: Aizoaceae) and insights into generic and subgeneric circumscription in the Conophytum clade, pp. 457-484 in Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 184 (4)</i> on pages 474-477, DOI: 10.1093/botlinnean/box037, http://zenodo.org/record/7868488