Talinum arnotii
| Family: | Portulacaceae |
| Full name: | Talinum arnotii Hook.f. |
| Location: | Kyffhäuser (2416AD + 2416CB) |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | - |
| English common name(s): | Kalahari butterweed |
| Synonym(s): | Talinum caffrum auct. - sensu Dinter-- misapplied name Talinum cuneifolium auct. - sensu Poelln. (1934) & sensu Podlech (1967)-- misapplied name |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Erect or sub-erect perennial herb, up to 40 cm tall. Leaves and stems somewhat fleshy. Leaves oblong to broadly (ob)ovate, up to c. 4 x 2.5 cm. Flowers axillary, mostly solitary, rarely in clusters of 2-3, golden-yellow, opening in the afternoon and fading by nightfall. Fruit a subspherical capsule. Seeds shiny black with a white hilum, 1.5-2 mm in diameter, with a verrucose surface (visible with a lens). (from Flora of Zimbabwe website) Very similar to T. caffrum but the typical leaves are oblong to broadly obovate or ovate and up to 4x2.75 cm, only rarely are they lanceolate-elliptic and c. 4x1 cm. The petals are golden-yellow and the seeds are shining black and noticeably concentrically verruculose but not ridged. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Zambesiaca) Perennial herb similar to T. caffrum, tuber often long and tapering, flesh reddish-brown; stems erect to ascending, less often decumbent, to 40 cm high, moderately branched. Leaves variable, usually elliptic to ovate but sometimes narrower, 2–7(–10) cm long, 2–20(–35) mm wide, margins undulate especially when young, slightly revolute. Flowers in axillary 1(–3)-flowered cymes; peduncle 0.8–3.5(–6.5) cm long, often longer than the leaves, slender to stout but not filiform, pedicel usually stout, thickened upwards. Sepals 8–11 mm long; petals usually bright yellow but varying from lemon-yellow to orange; stamens 20 – ±50. Capsule (5–)6–10 mm high; seeds lenticular to plumply comma-shaped, 1.7–1.8 mm in diameter, minutely pitted at the cell corners, almost smooth varying to distinctly granular. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Tropical East Africa) Seeds with concentric rows of pock marks. (from www.ispot.org.za/node/180556) Shrublet, semi-erect, rarely decumbent; tubers long, branched, usually reddish brown inside. Branches slightly hairy, becoming glabrous, succulent, 30-40 (-60) cm long. Leaves narrowly or broadly ovate or elliptic, mucronate, (-5) cm long, 0-8-1-5 (-2*5) cm broad, with margins often irregularly recurved, appearing wavy; petiole 2-3 (-4) mm long. Inflorescence axillary, cymose, 1-3-flowered. Peduncle 2-3 (-4) cm long ending in two keeled bracts with membranous margins. Pedicel 0-5-1 cm long, swollen below the ovary, usually with lateral flowers with one pair of bracteoles. Sepals 5-6 (7) mm long, ovate, keeled and slightly hooded at the apex, with membranous margin. Petals (4) 5, ovate, mucronate, faintly keeled at the apex. Stamens 20-30 (-50); filaments slightly broadened towards the base, fused into a ring c. 1 mm high. Ovary conical with 25-40 ovules; style 2-3 (-4) mm long dividing into 3 stigmas 2-3 mm long, papillose. Capsule ovate, 8-9 mm long, 5-6 mm broad, shiny yellow. Seeds reniform, laterally compressed, 0-5-1-5 mm long, with fine elongate papillae or coarse papillae arranged in circular rows, dark brown or black. (from TÖLKEN, H.R. 1969. The genus Talinum (Portulacaceae) in southern Africa. Bothalia 10) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Photographer: | AA Dreyer |
| Date of photograph: | 21 Mar 2008 |
| Camera make: | Canon |
| Camera model: | PowerShot A700 |
| Lens aperture: | f/4.0 |
| Shutter speed: | 1/400 s |
| ISO speed: | - |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
