Hoplophyllum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
(unranked): | Angiosperms |
(unranked): | Eudicots |
(unranked): | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Tribe: | unplaced |
Genus: | Hoplophyllum A. P. de Candolle |
Type species | |
Hoplophyllum spinosum ( Linnaeus filius) A. P. de Candolle |
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Species | |
Hoplophyllum spinosum |
Hoplophyllum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. [1] It has two species, Hoplophyllum spinosum and Hoplophyllum ferox, both native to South Africa. [2]
Both species are shrubs. The leaves are hard and spine-tipped, much longer than wide, and either cylindrical or somewhat flattened. They are grooved with stripes running lengthwise. The type species is Hoplophyllum spinosum. [3]
Hoplophyllum is derived from two Greek words, hoplon "a tool or weapon" and phyllon "a leaf", a reference to the spiny leaves. [4]
The name Hoplophyllum was originated in 1836 by A.P. de Candolle [5] when he assigned Hoplophyllum spinosum to this genus in his classic work Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis. [6] This species had originally been named Pteronia spinosa by Linnaeus filius in 1782 in his book Supplementum Plantarum. [7]
The closest relative of Hoplophyllum is Eremothamnus, another native of southern Africa. [8] In one classification, published in 2009, these two formed the tribe Eremothamneae. [9] Other authors have placed them in the tribe Arctotideae. [1]