Malephora crocea

(Jacquin) Schwantes

Deutsche Gärt.-Zeitung 43: 7. 1928.

Common names: Crocea iceplant
IntroducedIllustrated
Basionym: Mesembryanthemum croceum Jacquin Fragm. Bot. , 17. 1800
Synonyms: Crocanthus croceus (Jacquin) L. Bolus Hymenocyclus croceus (Jacquin) Schwantes Mesembryanthemum instititum Willdenow
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 4. Mentioned on page 90.

Subshrubs. Stems light gray brown, exterior fissured, barklike, to 2 cm diam., corky, becoming woody with age. Leaves crowded at end of short-shoots, pale green, sometimes red tinged; blade triangular in cross-section, 2.5–6 (–12) × 0.6 cm, apex blunt, glaucous. Inflorescences terminal, flowers solitary; pedicel 1–6 cm. Flowers: calyx 0.8–1.5 cm; calyx lobes (4–) 5 (–6), 3 longer, with translucent margins, 2 shorter, apex acute; petals 40–65, purplish abaxially, orange adaxially, sometimes completely yellow, orange, or red, 4–12 mm; nectary present; stamens 2–5 mm; filaments connate basally, forming dense ring, white-hairy; ovary inferior. Capsules obcuneiform, 8 (–12) -loculed; adaxial seed pockets with bifid placental tubercles. Seeds ca. 75, 3–15 per locule, 1 × 0.8 mm. 2n = 36.


Phenology: Flowering mostly spring–summer.
Habitat: Margins of coastal wetlands and bluffs
Elevation: 0-100 m

Distribution

V4 183-distribution-map.gif

Introduced; Calif., Mexico (Baja California), Africa

Discussion

Malephora crocea is grown as an ornamental and often sold as a ground cover for landscaping. It is cultivated along freeways as far north and inland as Fresno, California.

Two varieties of Malephora crocea have been recognized: var. crocea, with the adaxial surfaces of the petals orange and the abaxial surfaces purplish; and var. purpureocrocea (Haworth) H. Jacobsen & Schwantes, with petals purplish on both surfaces, which is grown for ornamental purposes and is not naturalized in the flora.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Malephora crocea"
acute +  and blunt +
John E. Bleck +
(Jacquin) Schwantes +
Mesembryanthemum croceum +
6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
triangular +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (?) +
appendaged +, hooded +  and petaloid +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
8(-12)-loculed +
obcuneiform +
Crocea iceplant +
Calif. +, Mexico (Baja California) +  and Africa +
0-100 m +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
indehiscent +, circumscissile +, dehiscence +, septicidal +  and loculicidal +
Margins of coastal wetlands and bluffs +
terminal +  and axillary +
red tinged +  and pale green +
8-12-loculed +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
red;orange;red;orange;yellow;orange;purplish +
distinct +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1.2 cm12 mm <br />0.012 m <br />) +
Flowering mostly spring–summer. +
8-12-carpellate +
Deutsche Gärt.-Zeitung +
ferren1981a +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (?) +
papillose +
lenticular +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (?) +
Introduced +  and Illustrated +
connate +  and distinct +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
brown +  and light gray +
mat-forming +
underground +
erect +  and prostrate +
adnate +  and free +
connate +  and distinct +
Crocanthus croceus +, Hymenocyclus croceus +  and Mesembryanthemum instititum +
Malephora crocea +
Malephora +
species +
scaly +, hairy +  and glabrous +