Biology:Tetragonia decumbens
| Dune spinach | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Aizoaceae |
| Genus: | Tetragonia |
| Species: | T. decumbens
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| Binomial name | |
| Tetragonia decumbens Mill.
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Tetragonia decumbens (dune spinach or sea spinach) is a coastal shrub, native to southern Africa.[1]
Description
It grows as a trailing undershrub with thick, pale, furry stems, and thick, oval, saddle-shaped leaves 10-60 millimetres long and 5-30 millimetres wide. Flowers occur in clusters of three to five, and comprise four light yellow perianth segments surrounding a centre of many stamens.[2] The fruit is succulent with four wings, whence the genus name 'Tetragonia' = four-angled.
Taxonomy
It was first described and named by Philip Miller in 1768.[3] In 1862 the name T. zeyheri was published by Eduard Fenzl, but this has since been determined to be a synonym of T. decumbens.[4]
Distribution and habitat
Native to southern Africa, it grows on coastal and estuarine sand dunes in Namibia and the Cape Provinces of South Africa . The plant is edible and is a local delicacy in its native southern Africa, where it is known as "dune spinach". It is an important component of dune vegetation, being a hardy pioneer and stabilising dunes. The organic material it produces prepares the way for ensuing plants.
It is naturalised in Australia , where it is known as "sea spinach", and occurs in Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales.[3] The New South Wales specimens were long misidentified as T. nigrescens.[5] It was also formerly naturalised in Victoria, but it is now extinct there.[3]
References
- ↑ Tetragonia decumbens - Dune Spinach - article and information
- ↑ Prescott, A.; Venning, J. (1984). "Aizoaceae". Flora of Australia, Volume 4: Phytolaccaceae to Chenopodiaceae. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Tetragonia decumbens Mill.". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=18916.
- ↑ "Tetragonia zeyheri Fenzl". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. http://www.anbg.gov.au/cgi-bin/apni?taxon_id=263269.
- ↑ Heyligers, Petrus (1999). "The occurrence and history of Tetragonia decumbens (Aizoaceae) in New South Wales". Telopea 8 (3): 371–373.
External links
- "Tetragonia decumbens Mills.". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife. https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/.
Wikidata ☰ Q7706364 entry
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