Lampranthus N.E.Br.

Scientific Description

Family Aizoaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Small, erect or prostrate shrubs (with reddish branchlets). Plants succulent. Leaves cauline. Plants with a basal concentration of leaves, or with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves. Young stems cylindrical, or oval in section. Stem internodes solid. Xerophytic. Leaves minute to medium-sized; opposite; fleshy; imbricate to not imbricate; shortly petiolate, or subsessile; shortly connate; simple; epulvinate. Leaf blades entire; solid; solid/angular (three-angled). Leaves with stipules, or without stipules. Leaf blade margins entire (leaf surface densely dotted giving edge a denticulate appearance). Vegetative buds not scaly. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hairs absent. Urticating hairs absent. Extra-floral nectaries absent. Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent, or anomalous; via concentric cambia (in the woodier genera,), or from a single cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Entomophilous (diurnal).

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers solitary; pedicellate (9–21 mm long); ebracteate; ebracteolate; small, or medium-sized; regular; cyclic; pentacyclic to polycyclic. Free hypanthium present; incorporating calyx, staminodes and stamens. Perianth sepaline (considered apetalous, but with colourful, conspicuous staminodal ‘petals’); 5. Calyx present; 5 (approximately equal); 1 -whorled; gamosepalous; 3 segments with membranous margins which dry a dark brown; regular; fleshy; persistent. Corolla absent. Androecial members indefinite in number. Androecium 50–200 (i.e. ‘many’). Androecial members branched. Androecial sequence determinable. Androecial members maturing centrifugally; all equal; free of one another; 3–16 -whorled (i.e to ‘many whorls’). Androecium including staminodes. Staminodes 20–50 (many); petaloid (white, yellow or purple). Stamens 20–100 (many); polystemonous; filantherous. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Pollen shed as single grains. Fertile gynoecium present, or absent (in male flowers). Gynoecium 5 carpelled. The pistil 5 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious to synstylovarious; inferior. Ovary plurilocular; 5 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 5. Stigmas 5. Placentation parietal. Ovules 20–50 per locule (many); arillate, or non-arillate; anatropous, or campylotropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent; a capsule; 5 celled; 20–100 seeded (many). Seeds non-endospermic. Perisperm present (mealy). Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo curved.

Etymology. From the Greek for "bright" and "flower", referring to the profusion and colour of the flowers.