Erythrina zeyheri

Ploughbreaker
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Erythrina
Species:
E. zeyheri
Binomial name
Erythrina zeyheri
Synonyms[1]
  • Corallodendron zeyheri (Harv.) Kuntze

Erythrina zeyheri, commonly known as the ploughbreaker, is a deciduous, geoxylic subshrub and member of the family Fabaceae.[1][2] It is endemic to southern Africa. It grows no more than 60 cm tall[3] and occurs naturally in the higher elevation grasslands of South Africa's central plateau, and that of adjacent Lesotho.[4] They favour deep clay soil in the vicinity of creeks and marshes, and often form colonies.[3]

Description

It is a geoxylic plant, sometimes called an "underground tree",[5] that produces annual stems, some 50 to 60 cm long.[6] It has glabrous, leathery, trifoliolate leaves with large leaflets. The rachis and main leaf venation, which are prominently raised below, are armed with recurved spines on both leaf surfaces.[7] The petioles and stems are likewise armed to discourage browsers. The shoots and leaves are deciduous, dying away during harsh highveld winters,[3] when the plant survives as an extensive woody, tuberous rootstock.

The upright inflorescences appear in summer, with the leaves,[6] from October to January.[3] The drooping scarlet, or rarely white flowers,[7] are capped by a red calyxes. Their fruit are smooth black pods when mature, each containing a few large (1.0 to 1.7 cm long) seeds.[6] These are hard and orange-red in colour.[3][7]

Foodplant

It is a foodplant for the moth Terastia margaritis.[8]

Etymology

The species epithet honours Karl Zeyher (1799–1858), a German botanical and entomological collector active in the Cape Colony from 1822 until his death during the local smallpox epidemic of 1858.[9] Other taxa bearing his name include Combretum zeyheri, Mimusops zeyheri, Phyllogeiton zeyheri, and Stachys zeyheri.

References

  1. 1 2 "Erythrina zeyheri Harv". Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Erythrina zeyheri Harv". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000. n.d. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Elliot Lithudzha; K Behr. "Erythrina zeyheri". PlantZAfrica.com. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  4. ↑ Reports of its occurrence in Botswana and Zimbabwe are suspect, see: "Erythrina latissima E. Mey. (Notes)". Flora Zambesiaca. kew.org. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  5. ↑ Barras, Colin. "Why some trees evolved to live underground". BBC. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Schmidt, Ernst; Lötter, Mervyn; McCleland, Warren (2002). Trees and shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park. Johannesburg: Jacana Media. p. 488. ISBN 9781919777306.
  7. 1 2 3 van Wyk, Braam; et al. (1988). Veldgids tot die Veldblomme van die Witwatersrand en Pretoria. Cape Town: Struik. pp. 206–207. ISBN 0-86977-815-3.
  8. ↑ Goff, R. "Terastia margaritis". African Moths. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Zeyher, Mr Carl Ludwig Philipp (botany)". S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science. Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 2026-01-07.

Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Erythrina zeyheri at Wikimedia Commons

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.