Huernia

Huernia
Huernia macrocarpa var. penzigii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Subfamily: Asclepiadoideae
Tribe: Stapeliae
Genus: Huernia
R.Br.
Type species
Huernia campanulata
(Masson) R.Br. ex Haw.[1]

The genus Huernia (family Apocynaceae, subfamily Asclepiadoideae) consists of stem succulents from Eastern and Southern Africa, first described as a genus in 1810.[2][3] The flowers are five-lobed, usually somewhat more funnel- or bell-shaped than in the closely related genus Stapelia, and often striped vividly in contrasting colours or tones, some glossy, others matt and wrinkled depending on the species concerned. To pollinate, the flowers attract flies by emitting a scent similar to that of carrion. The genus is considered close to the genera Stapelia and Hoodia. The name is in honour of Justin Heurnius (1587–1652) a Dutch missionary who is reputed to have been the first collector of South African Cape plants. His name was actually mis-spelt by the collector.

Various species of Huernia are considered famine food by the inhabitants of Konso special woreda in southern Ethiopia. The local inhabitants, who call the native species of this genus baqibaqa indiscriminately, eat it with prepared balls of sorghum; they note that baqibaqa tastes relatively good and has no unpleasant side-effects when boiled and consumed. As a result, local farmers encouraged it to grow on stone walls forming the terraces, where it does not compete with other crops.[4]

Phylogenetic studies have shown the genus to be monophyletic, and most closely related to the Tavaresia genus, and to a widespread branch of stapeliads comprising the genera Orbea, Piaranthus and Stapelia.[5]

Species[6]
  1. Huernia andreaeana - Kenya
  2. Huernia barbata - South Africa
  3. Huernia campanulata
  4. Huernia clavigera - South Africa
  5. Huernia confusa - Transvaal
  6. Huernia decemdentata - Cape Province
  7. Huernia distincta - Cape Province
  8. Huernia guttata
  9. Huernia hallii- Namibia
  10. Huernia humilis - South Africa
  11. Huernia insigniflora - Transvaal
  12. Huernia kennedyana - South Africa
  13. Huernia kirkii - Cape Province
  14. Huernia levyi - Zimbabwe
  15. Huernia loeseneriana - South Africa
  16. Huernia longii - Cape Province
  17. Huernia longituba - Cape Province
  18. Huernia lopanthera - Angola
  19. Huernia namaquensis - Little Namaqualand
  20. Huernia nouhuysii - Transvaal
  21. Huernia ocellata
  22. Huernia oculata - South Africa
  23. Huernia pendula - Cape Province
  24. Huernia penzigii
  25. Huernia piersii - Cape Province
  26. Huernia praestans - Cape Province
  27. Huernia primulina - South Africa
  28. Huernia procumbens - Transvaal
  29. Huernia quinta - South Africa
  30. Huernia reticulata - South Africa
  31. Huernia similis - Angola
  32. Huernia simplex - South Africa
  33. Huernia stapelioides - South Africa
  34. Huernia tanganyikensis - Tanzania
  35. Huernia thudichumii - Cape Province
  36. Huernia thureti - South Africa
  37. Huernia transvaalensis - Transvaal
  38. Huernia tubata - South Africa
  39. Huernia urceolata - Angola, Namibia
  40. Huernia venusta
  41. Huernia volkartii - Angola
  42. Huernia whitesloaneana - Transvaal
  43. Huernia witzenbergensis - Cape Province
  44. Huernia zebrina- Cape Province
formerly included[6]

moved to Angolluma


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References

  1. ↑ lectotype designated by White et Sloane, Stapelieae ed. 2. 3: 819. 1937
  2. ↑ Brown, Robert. 1810. On the Asclepiadeae 11
  3. ↑ Tropicos
  4. ↑ Yves Guinand and Dechassa Lemessa, "Wild-Food Plants in Southern Ethiopia: Reflections on the role of 'famine-foods' at a time of drought" UN-OCHA Report, March 2000 (accessed 15 January 2009)
  5. ↑ P. Bruyns, C. Klak, P. Hanacek: Evolution of the stapeliads (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae) - repeated major radiation across Africa in an Old World group. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 2014. v. 77, no. 1, p. 251--263. ISSN 1055-7903.
  6. 1 2 The Plant List genus Huernia
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