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Lampranthus (Lampranthus)

Description

Lampranthus is a genus of succulent plants in the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to southern Africa. The genus name "Lampranthus" means "shining-flowers" in Latin, and the species of this genus have large, extremely bright flowers, of a range of colours (sometimes even bi-coloured), that usually appear in summer, and frequently cover the plants entirely. The species of this genus typically have long, smooth, elongated, succulent leaves. These can be triangular or cylindrical, and appear in opposite pairs on the shrubs' branches. Lampranthus can be clearly distinguished from related genera by its seed capsules. The seed capsules of all of these genera have triangular valves, which open when they become wet, exposing the seed chambers (locules). In contrast to Ruschia, each valve in a Lampranthus capsule has two wings, on either side of it, but no visible closing body. Unlike in Delosperma, the seeds in Lampranthus seed chambers are partially covered by a covering membrane. Lampranthus seeds sometimes have visible stalks too.

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum: Magnoliophyta

        • Class: Magnoliopsida

          • Order: Caryophyllales

            • Family: Aizoaceae

              • Genus: Lampranthus