Trianthema triquetra
| Family: | Aizoaceae |
| Full name: | Trianthema triquetra Rottler ex Willd. |
| Location: | Kyffhäuser (2416AD + 2416CB) |
| ID status: | ID not 100% certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Rooivygie |
| English common name(s): | Red spinach, Black horse purslane, Black pigweed |
| Synonym(s): | Trianthema triquetra Willd. in Rottler subsp. triquetra Trianthema sedifolia Vis. (1836) Trianthema salsoloides auct. |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | A more or less succulent procumbent or prostrate annual herb, much branched from the base. Branches radiating, terete, often tinged reddish and papulose, especially in the younger parts. Leaves linear, oblanceolate, oblanceolate-spathulate, obovate or almost orbicular, petiolate or subsessile; blade succulent, oblong-elliptic to almost circular in cross-section, 1–22 mm long, 1–4 mm broad. Petiole 0–5 mm long; leaf-base expanded, membranous, slightly 2-lobed, stem-clasping, sometimes persistent on the stem. Flowers axillary, glomerulate (usually 2–6, sometimes more, rarely solitary), basally free from one another, sessile or shortly stalked, 2–4 mm long. Calyx-segments 5, triangular, each with a subapical dorsal thickening, at its largest forming an obsolescent mucro up to 0.3 mm. long, usually glabrous, sometimes papulose-pubescent. Stamens 5, alternate with the calyx-lobes. Ovary obconical, turbinate, depressed above centrally around the short style. Ovules and seeds 2, superposed, sometimes 1 by abortion of the other. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Tropical East Africa) Annual herb, often with most parts tinged reddish. Stems procumbent or prostrate. Leaves very variable: petiole 0–5 mm long, base expanded, clasping and slightly 2-lobed, sometimes persistent on old stems; leaf-blade linear to almost orbicular in some stunted individuals, up to 22 x 4 mm, succulent, oblong-elliptic to ± circular in cross-section. Flowers in clusters, rarely solitary, sessile or nearly so but never joined at base. Perianth 2–4 mm long overall; tepals with subapical thickening forming at the most an obscure mucro up to 0.3 mm long. Stamens 5. Capsule with prominently thickened lid, (1–)2-seeded, lower seed often retained within open capsule. Seeds concentrically wrinkled. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Somalia) Stamens 5. Leaves terete to oblanceolate, up to 30 mm long, less than 4 mm wide, with a membranous sheath, succulent. Prostrate to ascending herb to 60 cm high. Coast. Usually on sandy soils. (from eflora.library.usyd.edu.au/taxon/trianthema-triquetra website) Annual succulent. Leaves oblanceolate to linear (length: 30 mm, width: 2-4 mm) mucronate at the apex, the petiole glabrous (length: 2 mm). Flowers white to pink cyme axillaies. (Translated from French from http://www.plantes-botanique.org/espece_Trianthema_triquetra) Like T. parvifolia but densely covered all over with prominent papillae becoming hard and hispid in the older stages. Stems ridged. Perianth lobes obtuse or subobtuse. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Zambesiaca) Leaves linear to narrowly oblanceolate-obovate, subsessile or petiolate; flowers sessile; calyx-lobes about as broad across the base as long. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Tropical East Africa) Prostrate, spreading herb. Stems covered in rough prominent papillae. Leaves opposite, pairs often of unequal size, oblong-obovate, up to 1 cm long, somewhat fleshy. Flowers axillary in sessile clusters. Perianth with triangular obtuse lobes with a membranous edge. Fruit more or less flattend at the top with a thickened rim, deep purple. (from Flora of Zimbabwe website) |
| 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 Dec 2008 |
| Camera make: | Canon |
| Camera model: | PowerShot A700 |
| Lens aperture: | f/4.0 |
| Shutter speed: | 1/800 s |
| ISO speed: | - |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
