Disphyma crassifolium, commonly known as round-leaved pigface,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Aizoaceae and is native to Australia and the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It is a prostrate, succulent annual shrub or short-lived Perennial plant with stems up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long, leaves that are three-sided in cross-section with a rounded lower angle, and purple daisy-like flowers with staminodes up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long.

Round-leaved pigface
Disphyma crassifolium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Aizoaceae
Subfamily:	Ruschioideae
Tribe:	Ruschieae
Genus:	Disphyma
Species:	D. crassifolium
Binomial name
Disphyma crassifolium (L.) L.Bolus[1]

Description

Disphyma crassifolium is a prostrate, succulent, annual or short-lived perennial shrub that typically grows to a height of 2–30 cm (0.79–11.81 in) and has stems up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) long. Its leaves are club-shaped, more or less round to three-sided in cross-section, 5–70 mm (0.20–2.76 in) long and 1–7 mm (0.039–0.276 in) wide. The flowers are 20–50 mm (0.79–1.97 in) wide with a perianth tube 6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in) wide, the longer lobes 2–30 mm (0.079–1.181 in) long with purple, petal-like staminodes 110–30 mm (4.3–1.2 in) long that are white on the lower surface. Flowering mainly occurs from October to February and the fruit is a conical capsule that is about 10 mm (0.39 in) long and wide before opening.[2][3]

Taxonomy

Disphyma crassifolium was first published in 1753 as Mesembryanthemum crassifolium by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum from species collected in southern Africa.[4][5][6] In 1925, Nicholas Edward Brown raised the genus Disphyma in The Gardeners' Chronicle[7] and in 1927 Harriet Margaret Louisa Bolus moved Linnaeus's M. crassifolium into the new genus as Disphyma crassifolium in the botanical magazine Flowering Plants of South Africa.[8]

In 1803, Adrian Hardy Haworth described Mesmbryanthemum clavellatum in his book Miscellanea Naturalia, sive Dissertationes Variae ad Historiam Naturalem Spectantes from plants raised from seed collected in Australia by Robert Brown.[9] In 1976, Robert Chinnock moved M. clavellatum to the genus Disphyma as D. clavellatum in the New Zealand Journal of Botany.[10][11] Then, in 1986, John Peter Jessop reduced Disphyma clavellatum to a subspecies, Disphyma crassifolium subsp. clavellatum in Flora of South Australia,[12] a name accepted by the Australian Plant Census and Plants of the World Online.[13][14]

Distribution and habitat

Disphyma crassifolium is widely distributed in South Africa and Australia. It grows in saline areas such as coastal dunes and samphire flats, and tolerates a range of soils including sand, loam and clay.[2][3]

References

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