Aptenia
Ice Plant is a plant genus of the family of Mesembryanthemum plants ( Aizoaceae ).
Description
The species of the genus Aptenia are lying down or resting to erect small shrubs or climbing plants that have fibrous roots and usually rarely fleshy rhizomes. The internodes are lignified square or round in cross section and weak. The green bark is succulent and contains additional vascular bundles with densely packed, xeromorphen bladder cells. Your flat or nearly cylindrical leaves are heart-shaped, ovate, lanceolate or linear. They are stalked or sessile. The leaves are arranged in decussate and sometimes on the inflorescence almost alternate. They are usually not attached to the base. They rarely contain some larger water-storing cells.
The flowers appear singly or forming a wenigblütige Zyme. The flowers are short-stemmed and have a diameter of from 15 to 35 millimeters. The four sepals are fused or free. The white, pale yellow or pink petals are fused at the base into a short tube. Filamentous staminodes may be present or absent. The nectaries are scalloped.
The vierfächrigen capsule fruits can have wing flaps. The fruit capsules contain blackish brown, D- shaped seeds with a rough seed coat.
Systematics and distribution
The genus is Aptenia in Namibia and the South African provinces of Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu -Natal, Northern Cape and Limpopo common in summer rainfall areas.
The first description was in 1925 by Nicholas Edward Brown. The genus belongs to the subfamily Aptenia Mesembryanthemoideae within the family of Mesembryanthemum plants. The type species is Aptenia cordifolia.
The genus Aptenia include the following types:
- Aptenia cordifolia ( L. F. ) Schwantes
- Aptenia geniculiflora (L.) Bittrich ex Gerbaulet
- Aptenia Haeckeliana ( A.Berger ) Bittrich ex Gerbaulet
- Aptenia lancifolia L.Bolus