Revision of Sarcocornia (Chenopodiaceae) in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique

Sarcocornia comprises ca. 20–24 perennial, halophytic herb and shrub species. The genus is distinct from other genera in the Salicornioideae in having flowers that are more or less equal in size, arranged in a row, and with seeds that have a membranous hairy testa and lack perisperm. Sarcocornia is...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Steffen, S., Mucina, Ladislav, Kadereit, G.
Format: Journal Article
Published: The American Society of Plant Taxonomists 2010
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20996
_version_ 1848750466065760256
author Steffen, S.
Mucina, Ladislav
Kadereit, G.
author_facet Steffen, S.
Mucina, Ladislav
Kadereit, G.
author_sort Steffen, S.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Sarcocornia comprises ca. 20–24 perennial, halophytic herb and shrub species. The genus is distinct from other genera in the Salicornioideae in having flowers that are more or less equal in size, arranged in a row, and with seeds that have a membranous hairy testa and lack perisperm. Sarcocornia is distributed worldwide, mainly in regions characterized by warm-temperate and, to a lesser extent, subtropical climates. The representatives of this genus are found in habitats such as estuarine salt marshes, tidal mud flats, coastal cliffs, inland salt pans, and salt-laden alluvia of intermittent semi-desert and desert streams. Some South African taxa also occur in inland (semi-desert) quartz patches while some South American species occur on saline soils of dry, continental high plateaus in the Andes. The genus reaches its highest species diversity in the Greater Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, where twelve species and one subspecies are known. This revision of southern African (South Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique) Sarcocornia comprises an identification key, the descriptions of the genus, species, and subspecies. One new combination, S. dunensis, is proposed. The former varieties recognized within S. natalensis are here treated as subspecies, S. natalensis subsp. natalensis and subsp. affinis. Morphological characters of high taxonomic value in the genus are habit (growth-form), segment morphology, and testa micromorphology. Our revision also features information on the distribution and ecology of the studied taxa.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:37:16Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-20996
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:37:16Z
publishDate 2010
publisher The American Society of Plant Taxonomists
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-209962018-03-29T09:06:32Z Revision of Sarcocornia (Chenopodiaceae) in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique Steffen, S. Mucina, Ladislav Kadereit, G. Sarcocornia comprises ca. 20–24 perennial, halophytic herb and shrub species. The genus is distinct from other genera in the Salicornioideae in having flowers that are more or less equal in size, arranged in a row, and with seeds that have a membranous hairy testa and lack perisperm. Sarcocornia is distributed worldwide, mainly in regions characterized by warm-temperate and, to a lesser extent, subtropical climates. The representatives of this genus are found in habitats such as estuarine salt marshes, tidal mud flats, coastal cliffs, inland salt pans, and salt-laden alluvia of intermittent semi-desert and desert streams. Some South African taxa also occur in inland (semi-desert) quartz patches while some South American species occur on saline soils of dry, continental high plateaus in the Andes. The genus reaches its highest species diversity in the Greater Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, where twelve species and one subspecies are known. This revision of southern African (South Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique) Sarcocornia comprises an identification key, the descriptions of the genus, species, and subspecies. One new combination, S. dunensis, is proposed. The former varieties recognized within S. natalensis are here treated as subspecies, S. natalensis subsp. natalensis and subsp. affinis. Morphological characters of high taxonomic value in the genus are habit (growth-form), segment morphology, and testa micromorphology. Our revision also features information on the distribution and ecology of the studied taxa. 2010 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20996 10.1600/036364410791638379 The American Society of Plant Taxonomists restricted
spellingShingle Steffen, S.
Mucina, Ladislav
Kadereit, G.
Revision of Sarcocornia (Chenopodiaceae) in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique
title Revision of Sarcocornia (Chenopodiaceae) in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique
title_full Revision of Sarcocornia (Chenopodiaceae) in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique
title_fullStr Revision of Sarcocornia (Chenopodiaceae) in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique
title_full_unstemmed Revision of Sarcocornia (Chenopodiaceae) in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique
title_short Revision of Sarcocornia (Chenopodiaceae) in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique
title_sort revision of sarcocornia (chenopodiaceae) in south africa, namibia and mozambique
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20996