Talk:Succulent plant

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Contents 1 allowing the succulents to respire 2 growth forms 2.1 Growth Forms 3 Xerophilic? 4 Fat Plants

[edit] allowing the succulents to respire

What do you mean by: "allowing the succulents to respire." ? --Jclerman 03:12, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

See definition of respiration and of CAM metabolism.--Jclerman 03:24, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] growth forms

removed the section below (re: growth forms) from the article. I think it needs re-writing as prose and incorporation into the introduction. MidgleyDJ 20:23, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Growth Forms

The often similar appearance of not closely related succulents is the result of convergent evolution. Similar environmental conditions force the plants to adopt similar growth patterns. Some typical growth forms are:

Leaf cushions: leaf succulents, forming mounds, low stems with dense rosettes of leaves. Examples in the plant families Agaveaceae, Asteraceae, Commelinaceae, Crassulaceae, Portulaceae.

Spherical leaf plants: leaf succulents, small branches with oval to spherical leaves. In extreme cases the plant is reduced to a pair of leaves. Examples in the plant families Aizoaceae, Asphodelaceae, Asteraceae, Crassulaceae.

Window leaf plants: leaf succulents, plants growing almost entirely underground with only the leaf tips projecting from the soil. These leaf ends have transparent windows which allows light to penetrate, and filter through lenses inside the leaf before being used for photosynthesis on the inner side of the leaf surface. Examples in the plant families Aizoaceae, Asphodelaceae, Asteraceae.

Coral-like shrubs: stem succulents, shrubs with bare, green branches, with leaves greatly reduced or missing. Examples in the plant families Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Cactaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Didieraceae, Lentibulariaceae, Passifloraceae.

Cactus like: stem succulents, thorny or apparently thorny green spheres or columns, with leaves mostly greatly reduced or absent. Examples in the plant families Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Cactaceae, Didieraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Geraniaceae, Vitaceae.

Bottle trees: stem succulents, bushes or trees in which the stems are greatly swollen into bottle or tub shapes. Examples in the plant families Agavaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Bombaceae, Burseraceae, Cucurbitaceae, Dracaenaceae, Moraceae, Nolinaceae.

Caudex plants: root succulents (geophytes), plants with tubers or disc-like thickened roots partly or wholly underground. The above-ground growth is annual, thin and often twining. Examples in the plant families Apocynaceae, Basellaceae, Bombaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Dioscoreaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Gesneriaceae, Hyacinthaceae, Piperaceae.

Succulents can attain very different sizes. The scale runs from 3 mm, the small balls of Conophytums (Aizoaceae) to 30 m tall trees as in Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae).

[edit] Xerophilic?

I don't think xerophilic is a word, and if it was, I think it would describe an organism rather than a climate (also, the word would be xerophilous). I think xeric is the correct word. Are there any objections to this? --TedPavlic 16:28, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fat Plants

"fat plant" is not a synonym for succulent; it's a subgroup or, some would say, an overlapping category taking in some non-succulents (according to some definitions) like Adansonia and Hydnophytum. Succulents like sempervivum are not fat plants. See http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/fat-plants —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikilowy (talk • contribs) 03:42, 24 January 2008 (UTC)