View source for Biology:Fockea

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{automatic taxobox
|image = Fockea edulis 001.jpg
|image_alt =
|image_caption = Potted ''[[Biology:Fockea edulis|Fockea edulis]]''
|taxon = Fockea
|authority = Endl.
|display_parents = 2
|synonyms = *''Chymocormus'' Harv. (1842)
}}

'''''Fockea''''' is a genus of succulent scrubs native to [[Earth:Africa|Africa]] south of the equator. They are members of the [[Biology:Asclepiadoideae|Asclepiadoideae]] (milkweeds), a subfamily of the dogbane family [[Biology:Apocynaceae|Apocynaceae]]. Of the six recognized species, only the two most widely distributed extend north of [[Place:Southern Africa|southern Africa]], with ''[[Biology:Fockea multiflora|F. multiflora]]'' reaching as far north as Tanzania and ''F. angustifolia'' reaching to southern Kenya.<ref name=Bruyns1>{{cite journal|doi=10.3417/0026-6493(2006)93[535:ASSOTO]2.0.CO;2|issn = 0026-6493|year = 2006|volume = 93|page = 535|title = A Systematic Study of the Old World Genus ''Fockea'' (Apocynaceae–Asclepiadoideae)|last1 = Bruyns|first1 = P. V.|last2 = Klak|first2 = C.|journal = Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden|issue = 4| s2cid=86171059 }}</ref> ''Fockea'' are known as '''water roots,'''<ref>{{cite book|last=National Research Council|title=Lost crops of Africa: Volume II: Vegetables|year=2006|publisher=National Academies Press|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=0-309-66582-5|page=269|url=http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11763.html}}</ref> a reference to the bulbous [[Biology:Caudex|caudex]] characteristic of most species, which is also edible in at least some species.

==Taxonomy==
The genus ''Fockea'' Endl. was established in 1838 by the Austrian botanist Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher through  illustration<ref name=endlicher1>{{cite book |last1=Endlicher |first1=Stephan |title=Iconographia generum plantarum |date=1838 |pages=91 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.127663|publisher=F. Beck] |location=[Vindobonae |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/130502#page/193/mode/1up |access-date=28 Jul 2023}}</ref> and description<ref name=endlicher2>{{cite book |last1=Endlicher |first1=Stephan |last2=Fenzl |first2=Eduard |title=Novarum stirpium decas I–X |date=1839 |pages=17–19 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.127663|publisher=Typis Sollingerianis] |location=[Vindobonae |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/221285#page/25/mode/1up |access-date=28 Jul 2023}}</ref> of a specimen of ''Fockea capensis'' collected in Cape Colony circa 1786 by Franz Boos and Georg Scholl and cultivated at Schönbrunn Garden in Vienna.<ref name=Bruyns1/> The genus was named in honor of the German physician and naturalist Gustav Woldemar Focke, author of the commentary ''De respiratione vegetabilium'' (''Of the respiration of vegetables'').<ref name=endlicher2/> The “Old Lady of Schönbrunn” — the oldest potted succulent in captivity — continued to be cultivated at least through 1988, over 200 years after it was first collected by Boos and Scholl.<ref name=Zecher>{{cite journal | last1 = Zecher | first1 = Ernst | date = 1988 | title = The Old Lady of Schoenbrunn | journal = Asklepios | volume = 43 | pages = 88–93}}</ref><ref name=walker>{{cite journal | last1 = Walker | first1 = Colin | date = Sep 2021 | title = Three South African Crassulas and the botanical art of Baron von Jacquin | url = https://www.cactusandsucculentreview.org.uk/assets/downloads/2021/csr-september-2021.pdf | journal = Cactus & Succulent Review | volume = 31 | pages = 31–39 | access-date = 29 Jul 2023}}</ref> It was believed to be the last surviving member of its species until the South African botanist Rudolf Marloth collected another specimen of ''F. capensis'' near Prince Albert in 1906.<ref name=Bruyns1/><ref name=court>{{cite thesis |type=MSc thesis |last1=Court |first1=Grace Doreen |title=A revision of the genus Fockea Endl. (Asclepiadaceae) |date=1982 |publisher=Rhodes University |location=Grahamstown, South Africa |url=http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:4242 |access-date=28 Jul 2023}}</ref>

Most ''Fockea'' species are relatively small climbers with swollen, mostly subterranean [[Biology:Tuber|tubers]], whereas ''[[Biology:Fockea multiflora|Fockea multiflora]]'', a widely distributed but exclusively tropical species, is a massive, tropical [[Biology:Liana|liana]] without a tuber.<ref name=Bruyns1/><ref name=Bruyns2>{{cite book|last= Bruyns|first=P. V.|title= The Apocynaceae of Namibia|year=2014|publisher= South African National Biodiversity Institute|location= Pretoria|isbn=978-1-91997698-3|page=30, 32|url=https://archive.org/details/apocynaceaeofnam34bruy/mode/2up}}</ref> It is considered a [[Biology:Sister group|sister]] to the other five species. ''Fockea angustifolia'', also widely distributed, is mainly tropical, and sister to the remaining four species, which are [[Biology:Endemism|endemic]] to southern Africa.<ref name=Bruyns1/>

;Species<ref>{{cite web |title=Fockea Endl.|url=https://wfoplantlist.org/plant-list/taxon/wfo-4000014892-2023-06?page=1|work=WFO Plant List|accessdate=24 Jun 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Faucon|first=Philippe|title=Fockea|url=https://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Apocynaceae/Fockea.html|work=Desert Tropicals|accessdate=25 October 2013}}</ref> 
# ''Fockea angustifolia'' <small>K.Schum.</small> — A climbing tuberous [[Biology:Storage organ|geophyte]] found primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome, ranging from Southeast Kenya to {{wipe|South Africa}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fockea angustifolia K.Schum.|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1004792-1|work=Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew|accessdate=24 Jun 2023}}</ref>
# ''Fockea capensis'' <small>Endl.</small> — A climbing tuberous geophyte found primarily in the subtropical biome; its native range is the southern [[Biology:Cape Provinces|Cape Provinces]] of South Africa.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fockea capensis Endl.|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:97433-1|work=Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew|accessdate=24 Jun 2023}}</ref>
# ''Fockea comaru'' <small>(E.Mey.) N.E.Br.</small> - A tuberous geophyte found primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome, ranging from southern Namibia to South Africa's Cape Provinces.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fockea comaru (E.Mey.) N.E.Br.|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:97434-1|work=Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew|accessdate=24 Jun 2023}}</ref>
# ''[[Biology:Fockea edulis|Fockea edulis]]'' <small>(Thunb.) K.Schum.</small> - A climbing tuberous geophyte found primarily in the subtropical biome, ranging from the southern Cape Provinces to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fockea edulis (Thunb.) K.Schum.|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:97438-1|work=Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew|accessdate=24 Jun 2023}}</ref>
# ''[[Biology:Fockea multiflora|Fockea multiflora]]'' <small>K.Schum.</small> - A semisucculent [[Biology:Liana|liana]] growing primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome, ranging from Tanzania to northern Namibia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fockea multiflora K.Schum.|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:97445-1|work=Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew|accessdate=24 Jun 2023}}</ref>
# ''Fockea sinuata'' <small>(E.Mey.) Druce</small> - A climbing tuberous geophyte growing primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome, ranging from south-central and southern Namibia to the Cape Provinces and Free State province of South Africa.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fockea sinuata (E.Mey.) Druce|url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:97448-1|work=Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew|accessdate=24 Jun 2023}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5863412}}

[[Category:Fockea| ]]
[[Category:Apocynaceae genera]]

{{Sourceattribution|Fockea}}