Stapelia
The Stapelien ( Stapelia ), often referred to as many other types carrion flowers, are a genus of the subfamily of milkweed plants ( Asclepiadoideae ) in the family of the dogbane family ( Apocynaceae ). The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus after the Dutch physician and botanist Johannes van Bodaeus Stack ( 1602-1636 ).
Features
Stapelien are stem succulent, perennial plants that are weak to strong, usually branched basal. The shoots usually grow plagiotrop, that is, the direction of growth is determined by the geotropism and does not have the orientation of the stem axis; Shoots rare lying. Some species also form rhizomatous offsets. The shoots are 6 to about 30 cm high, cylindrical, and usually nearly quadrangular, rarely five or six square or spiral. The corners may be rounded or tapered, the diameter is about 5 to 30 mm. The shoots are green to blue-green and the surface is hairy hairless or finely. The most concave side surfaces have neither mosaic pattern also, they are still furrowed. The leaves are small, pointed, hairy and showing fine upwards. At the base are usually a pair of small and glandular Nebenblatt rudiments present. The milky juice is colorless. The inflorescence consists of single to few successively opening flowers that close to the engine base sitting usually, rarely, stalked or are randomly distributed on the engine. The leaves are reduced to 0.1 to 0.3 cm long scales.
The flowers are borne singly or up to ten, usually at the base of the stems. The flowers usually spread a strict carrion; rarely also sweet smelling. The flower stems are about 0.5 to 12 cm long and more or less densely covered with downy hairs. The hermaphroditic, flowers are radial symmetry fünfzählig with double perianth. The five sepals are fused at their base. The five fleshy petals are 5 to 200 mm long and up to half grown their length. Spread the corolla has a diameter of 0.8 to about 40 cm; the size is highly variable even within a taxon. It is mostly flat, rarely becker- or bell- shaped with deep corolla lobes. The corolla lobes are mostly undressed long triangular, rounded at the end. They are generally curved convexly in the longitudinal axis, are bent to the outside; inside they are more or less quergerunzelt and hairy. The corona has staminale and interstaminale corona, is double-breasted and usually short-stalked. The stem is cylindrical or more or less fünfrippig pentagonal. The interstaminale Nebenkrone has five simple tip that are rare in two parts, but are often concave longitudinally. The staminale Nebenkrone has flattened lobes, which lie close to the stamens. It's just a circle with five stamens present. The stamens are more or less square without appendages. The stamens and carpels are fused to a so-called " Gynostegium ". The pollen is combined into one unit, the " pollinium ". The " pollinium " is about two so-called " translators " with the " sprag " connected. Each flower contains two upper permanent carpels.
The follicles are spindle-shaped, individually or mostly arranged in pairs. The two follicles of a couple standing at an acute angle (30 to 60 °) to each other. Smooth follicles have a length of 9 to 13 cm and a diameter of 1 to 2 cm. The surface is covered with fine downy hairs, rarely also bald. Each pod contains 60 to 140 seeds. Most brown seeds are oval and flat 5-8 mm long and 2-5 mm wide. You have a simple white hair at one end.
Dissemination
The species of the genus Stapelia are a Florenelement the capensis and found mainly in the Republic of South Africa and Swaziland. The occurrence of the genus extends with strongly decreasing diversity continues north through Namibia and Botswana, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi to Tanzania.
System
Some previously unclassified species here are now assigned to the genus Caralluma, Huernia, Orbea or Duvalia. These genera are known as carrion flowers or even as a religious star.
The genus Stapelia comprises by Müller and Albers ( Albers and in Meve, 2002) in the following ways:
- Stapelia acuminata Masson
- Stapelia arenosa C.A.Lückhoff
- Stapelia arnoti N.E.Br.
- Stapelia asterias Masson
- Stapelia baylissii L.C.Leach
- Stapelia cedrimontana Frandsen
- Stapelia clavicorona I.Verd.
- Stapelia divaricata Masson
- Stapelia engleriana Bad
- Stapelia erectiflora Masson ( with the varieties of S. erectiflora erectiflora var and var p erectiflora prostatiflora LC Leach )
- Stapelia flavopurpurea Marloth
- Stapelia gariepensis Pillans
- Stapelia gettliffei Pott
- Stapelia gigantea N.E.Br.
- Stapelia glabricaulis N.E.Br.
- Stapelia glanduliflora Masson
- Stapelia grandiflora Masson
- Stapelia hirsuta L.
- Stapelia immel maniae Pillans
- Stapelia kougabergensis L.C.Leach
- Stapelia kwebensis N.E.Br.
- Stapelia leendertziae N.E.Br.
- Stapelia longipedicellata ( A.Berger ) N.E.Br.
- Stapelia macowanii NE Brown ( with two varieties: var p macowanii macowanii and S. macowanii var conformis ( NEBrown ) LCLeach )
- Stapelia montana LCLeach ( with two varieties: P. montana var montana and S. montana var Grossa LCLeach )
- Stapelia OBDUCTA L.C.Leach
- Stapelia olivacea N.E.Br.
- Stapelia paniculata Willd.
- Stapelia parvula Kers
- Stapelia pearsonii N.E.Br.
- Stapelia peglerae N.E.Br.
- Stapelia pillansii N.E.Br. ( with two varieties: var p pillansii pillansii and S. fontinalis pillansii var Nel )
- Stapelia praetermissa LCLeach ( with two varieties: var p pratermissa praetermissa and S. praetermissa var luteola LCLeach )
- Stapelia pulvinata Masson
- Stapelia remota R.A.Dyer
- Stapelia rubiginosa Nel
- Stapelia rufa Masson
- Stapelia schinzii A.Berger & Evil (with three varieties: var p schinzii schinzii, p schinzii var angolensis Kers and S. var schinzii bergeriana ( Dinter ) LCLeach )
- Stapelia scitula L.C.Leach
- Stapelia similis N.E.Br.
- Stapelia surrecta N.E.Br.
- Stapelia tsomoensis N.E.Br.
- Stapelia unicornis C.A.Lückhoff
- Stapelia vetula Masson
- Stapelia villetiae C.A.Lückhoff