The genus Conophytum

Glossary

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acuminate – tapering to a point.
acute – sharply pointed but not drawn out.
adpressed – lying flat for the length of the organ.
adaptation – any characteristic that improves the chancees of an organism to produce offspring. Adaptations are favored by the process of natural selection.
adaptive radiation – Rapid evolution of a group of related organisms into unoccupied ecological niches.

ancestral character – See plesiomorphy.

anthesis – the opening of a flower.

anther – the male parts of a flower and the source of pollen, each anther is situated on top of a filament, in outcrossing plants often in a position where it may efficiently transfer pollen to pollinators

binomial nomenclature – The system for naming organisms developed by Carl Linnaeus, in which every organism has a generic name and a specific epithet.

biodiversity – the variety of plants and animals and other living things in a particular area or region. Biodiversity is important because plant and animal species interact and depend upon one another for food, shelter, oxygen, and soil enrichment.

biome – a major ecological community, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment. For example, the world can be divided into at least five major biomes: aquatic; deserts; forests; grasslands; and tundra.
bladder cells – bladder cells are swollen epidermal cells which bulge up above the rest of the epidermal surface (see Opel 2002).
bract – a modified leaf associated with the flowering part of the plant.

calyx – the outer series of leaf-like segments of the flower which is usually green in colour, it may be large and colourful, present or absent. It encloses the flower while it is still a bud.

dehisce – to split open when ripe, as in a capsule

desert – A major ecological community, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment.

ecoregions – Ecoregions (or ecozones) are relatively large units of land or water that contain distinct assemblages of natural communities sharing a majority of species, climate, soils, environmental conditions, and general topography. For example, ecoregions at the continental scale would be Australia or Latin America, whereas on a country scale, the boreal forest and Atlantic Maritimes are different ecoregions of Canada.
ecosystem – A community of plants, animals, and other organisms, plus their physical environment.
endemic – Restricted to a particular geographic region and found nowhere else in the world.

endemism – The measure or quality of being found in a given location or region and nowhere else in the world.

exserted – protruded beyond.

filament – the stalk of an anther.
filiform – thread-shaped.

fynbos – The distinctive plant community found within the small (about 80,000 km²) Mediterranean-like heathlands of the Cape of South Africa. The fynbos contains over 7,700 plant species, of which about 70 percent are endemic — found nowhere else in the world. Some of the fynbos species are located in extremely restricted ranges — some smaller than half a soccer field. Threats to the fynbos include development, fire, and invasive species.

genera – (plural of genus) A group of organisms marked by common characteristics and evolutionary background; more precisely, it is the category of biological classification between Family and Species.

glabrous – smooth without any pubescence.

glaucous – the powdery, greyish or bluish, waxy coating or bloom found on some echeverias, grapes many Mesembryanthemaceae and Crassulaceae for example.

globose – nearly spherical.

gneiss – Metamorphic rock that forms when sedimentary or igneous rock is subjected to high temperatures and pressures. Granite often becomes gneiss rock.

habitat-specialist – Species that can only survive in a specific environment, such as those that rely on certain prey species, or only live on scree slopes.

Homoplasty – from the Greek words homos = same and plastos = moulded, this word is a more formal name for 'convergent evolution' or 'convergence' in that sense. The words 'homoplasy' and 'isotely' also describe the same phenomenon.

interlocking corners – At the juncture between three cells of the epidermis there are projections from one cell in between the margins of the other two cells (see Opel 2002).

keel – a longitudinal ridge, at the back of the leaf.

monophyletic group – A group of organisms consisting of a common ancestor and all its descendants.

morphology – the study of form; e.g. a plant's external characteristics and their variations.

nectary – The nectar-secreting glands or parts of a flower or plant. These, like colour, scent, and disposition, play a very important role in attracting pollinators but seldom are essential otherwise to the well-being of plants.

nomenclature – a system of names, or the rules by which a system of names is formed.

obtuse – with a blunt or rounded tip.

ovate – egg-shaped, usually with reference to two dimensions.

papilla – a small soft superficial gland or protuberance.

papillate – having papillae.

papillose – covered with papillae.

parsimony – The principle that the simplest explanation, the one that requires the fewest hypotheses, is the one most likely to be correct.

pellucid – Admitting the passage of light; transparent or translucent

perennial – a plant that continues its life cycle for more than two years.

perianth – the two outer whorls of the Angiosperm flower; commonly used when the calyx and the corolla are not readily distinguishable (as in monocotyledons).

persistent – remaining attached to the plant, opposed to deciduous.

petal – A modified leaf, usually colored, forming a part of the corolla of a flower; occurs within the sepals (calyx).

phytogeographic – Plant communities that are defined by landscape or geographic characteristics. For example, low and high elevation forests can be divided by the 1000 meter contour line.

phylogeny – Genealogy of species; the pattern of ancestry and descent of species in evolution.
pistil – The seed-producing organ of a flower, composed of one or more carpels.
plesiomorphy – A character state already present in the ancestral species of a group under study.
pollination – Arrival of the pollen grain at the stigma of flowering plants, or at the micropyle of other seed plants.

stamen – the pollen-bearing male element of the flower.

stigma – the part of the stigma receptive to pollen.

style – the part of the pistil between the stigma and ovary.

succulence – refers to the juicy or sappy tissue capable of storing large quantities of water and nutrients

Succulent Karoo – The Succulent Karoo Region forms part of a Greater Cape Floristic Region rather than part of the Paleotropical Kingdom, which includes the Nama Karoo Region (see Hilton-Taylor 1987; Desmet & Cowling 1999a).

trichome – a hair-like outgrowth of the epidermis.

vernal – Relating to spring-time. For example, vernal pools only form temporarily during heavy spring rains.

verrucose – warty.

Literature:

Desmet, P. G. & Cowling, R. M. 1999a. Biodiversity, habitat and range-size aspects of a flora from a winter rainfall desert in northwestern Namaqualand, South Africa. Plant Ecol. 142: 23–33.

Hammer, S. 1993. The Genus Conophytum - A Conograph. Succulent Plant Publications, Pretoria.

Hammer, S. 2002. Dumpling and His Wife: New Views of the Genus Conophytum. East Anglia Engraving Creative Colour Ltd, Norwich, England.

Milton, S. J., Yeaton, R. I., Dean, W. R. J. & Vlok, J. H. J. 1997. Succulent Karoo, Pp. 131–166. In: Cowling, R. M., Richardson, D. M. & Pierce, S. M. (eds), The Vegetation of Southern Africa. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Opel, M. 2002. Conophytum leaf structures. In Hammer: Dumpling and His Wife: New Views of the Genus Conophytum. East Anglia Engraving Creative Colour Ltd, Norwich, England. pp. 300-321.

_{Andreas Jürgens}