Ruschioideae

Subfamily: Ruschioideae (mesems in part)

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Order: Caryophyllales > Family: Aizoaceae

The subfamilies Mesembryanthemoideae and Ruschioideae make up the group of succulents loosely termed the mesems that in some classifications are placed in a separate family, the Mesembryanthemaceae. In this classification they are placed in the Aizoaceae because evidence suggests that mesems were derived from within this group (see under Aizoaceae for more information).

Genera in southern Africa

Based on information from Chesselet et al. (2000).

Apatesia group

Apatesia The 3 species are endemic to the Western Cape.
Carpanthea One species: Carpanthea pomeridiana, endemic to the Western Cape.
Caryotophora One species: Caryotophora skiatophytoides, endemic to a small region near Cape Agulhas in the Western Cape.
Conicosia Two species, found in Namibia, and Western and Northern Cape.
Hymenogyne Two species, endemic to the Western Cape.
Saphesia One species: Saphesia flaccida, endemic to the sandy plains in the Malmesbury and Clanwilliam districts of the Western Cape.
Skiatophytum One species: Skiatophytum tripolium, endemic to the Western Cape.

Cleretum group

Aethephyllum

One species: Aethephyllum pinnatifidum, endemic to the Western Cape.

Cleretum

There are 3 species, found in the Western and Northern Cape.

Dorotheanthus

The 7 species are endemic to the Western and Northern Cape.

Mitrophyllum group

Dicrocaulon The 7 species are found in Namaqualand.
Diplosoma The 2 species are endemic to the Western Cape.
Disphyma Four species, found in South Africa, Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. There are 2 species in South Africa, found along the coast in the Western and Eastern Cape.
Glottiphyllum Total of 16 species, found in the southern parts of South Africa, especially in and around the Little Karoo.
Hammeria Two species, found in the Tanqua and Ceres Karoo in the Western and Northern Cape.
Jacobsenia Three species, found in Namaqualand in the Vanrhynsdorp and Vredendal vicinity.
Meyerophytum One species: Meyerophytum meyeri, found from the Richtersveld to southern Namaqualand.
Mitrophyllum There are 6 species, endemic to the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape.
Monilaria Five species, endemic to Namaqualand.
Oophytum The 3 species are endemic to the quartz fields on the Knersvlakte north of Vanrhynsdorp in the Western Cape.

Delosperma group

Corpuscularia Two species, endemic to the Eastern Cape.
Delosperma About 163 species, found mainly in South Africa but also found through to East Africa, Ethiopia, Arabia and the Yemen.
Drosanthemum About 120 species, found in Namibia and western, southern and central South Africa.
Ectotropis 1 species: Ectotropis alpina, found in the Eastern Cape in Hogsback and Katberg vicinity.
Gibbaeum The 16 species are found mainly in the vicinity of the Little Karoo, but the distribution does extend into the Northern Cape.
Malephora All 14 species are found in southern Africa, mainly from karroid areas.
Mestoklema A total of 14 species, found in Namibia and South Africa.
Muiria One species: Muiria hortenseae, found in the Barrydale district, Western Cape.
Oscularia A total of 23 species, found in fynbos of the Western Cape, extending slightly into the Northern Cape.
Trichodiadema Species total 34, found in the arid and semi-arid regions of Namibia and South Africa.

Stomatium group

Chasmatophyllum A total of 6 species, sparsely distributed over Namibia and South Africa.
Faucaria A total of 6 species, found in Eastern Cape thickets as well as the karoo.
Frithia The 2 species are found in the summer rainfall region of South Africa.
Mossia One species: Mossia intervallaris, found in the summer rainfall region of South Africa, and Lesotho.
Neohenricia Two species, found in the Northern Cape, Free State and the Eastern Cape.
Orthopterum The 2 species are found in subtropical thickets of the Eastern Cape.
Rabiea Six species, distributed in the Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape.
Rhinephyllum A total of 12 species, found in the karoo, South Africa.
Stomatium A total of 39 species, found in the arid and semi-arid regions of South Africa.

Titanopsis group

Aloinopsis Species total 14, found in the karoo, South Africa.
Deilanthe The 2 species are found in the karoo, South Africa.
Didymaotus One species: Didymaotus lapidiformis, found in the Tanqua karoo, Western Cape.
Dinteranthus A total of 4 species, found in the Northern Cape and southeastern Namibia.
Ihlenfeldtia The 2 species are found in quartzitic soils of the Northern Cape.
Lapidaria One species: Lapidaria margaretae, found in southern Namibia and the Northern Cape.
Lithops A total of 36 species, widespread in southern Africa, but not Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
Nananthus A total of 10 species, found in the interior of southern Africa.
Schwantesia Species total 8, found in the Northern Cape and southern Namibia.
Tanquana The 3 species are distributed over the Tanqua Karoo and adjacent karoo areas in the Western Cape.
Titanopsis Species total 5, found in Namibia, Northern Cape and Free State.
Vanheerdea Two species, found in the Northern Cape.
Zeuktophyllum Two species, found around Ladismith and Laingsburg in the Western Cape.

Dracophilus group

Conophytum The 88 species are endemic to the semi-arid and arid winter-rainfall regions of South Africa, in the Northern Cape (Namaqualand, Richtersveld and Bushmanland), Western Cape (Little Karoo and southern margins of Great Karoo), and just extending into the western parts of the Eastern Cape.
Dracophilus The 4 species are endemic to Namibia and the Northern Cape, with a distribution extending from Lüderitz to the Richtersveld.
Hartmanthus The 2 species are endemic to the arid Richtersveld (Northern Cape) and the Sperrgebiet (Namibia).
Jensenobotrya One species: Jensenobotrya lossowiana, endemic to Namibia, occurring in the desert between Lüderitz and Walvis Bay.
Juttadinteria The 10 species are endemic to the Northern Cape and Namibia, mainly from Lüderitz to the northern Richtersveld.
Namibia The 2 species are endemic to the Lüderitz vicinity in Namibia.
Nelia The 4 species are endemic to the Northern Cape (Richtersveld and Namaqualand).
Psammophora The 4 species are endemic to Namibia and the Northern Cape, with a distribution extending from Lüderitz to the Richtersveld.
Ruschianthus One species: Ruschianthus falcatus, endemic to a small area in southern Namibia.

Bergeranthus group

Bergeranthus All 10 species are endemic to the Eastern Cape.
Bijlia The 2 species are endemic to the Western Cape, occurring in the vicinity of Prince Albert.
Carruanthus The 2 species are endemic to the Western and Eastern Cape, occurring in the vicinity of Willowmore which lies near the border between these 2 provinces.
Cerochlamys The 3 species are endemic to the Western Cape, occurring in rocky crevices and shaly places in the Little and Great Karoo.
Hereroa The 32 species are endemic to arid and semi-arid regions of southern Namibia, and South Africa
Machairophyllum The 10 species are endemic to the Western and Eastern Cape, occurring mainly in the Little Karoo.
Rhombophyllum The 5 species are found mainly in subtropical thicket vegetation in the Eastern Cape, but it has also been recorded from the south-eastern Northern Cape.

Lampranthus group

Antegibbaeum One species: Antegibbaeum fissoides, endemic to the Little Karoo, Western Cape.
Braunsia The 5 species are endemic to karroid regions in the southwestern parts of South Africa.
Carpobrotus (sour figs) Seven of the 13 species are native to southern Africa [where do the remaining species occur?], occurring mainly along the coast. Cultivated in climatically suitable regions worldwide and has become a weed in parts of the USA where it is called ice plant.
Circandra One species: Circandra serrata, endemic to the Western Cape.
Enarganthe One species: Enarganthe octonaria, endemic to the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape.
Erepsia The 30 species are endemic to the winter-rainfall regions of the Western and Eastern Cape.
Esterhuysenia The 4 species are endemic to mountainous regions of the Western Cape.
Lampranthus About 220 species, all endemic to southern Africa, occurring in a broad band from southern Namibia, round the coast to the border between Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Namaquanthus One species: Namaquanthus vanheerdii, endemic to Namaqualand in the Northern Cape.
Scopelogena The 2 species are endemic to the Western Cape.
Smicrostigma One species: Smicrostigma viride, endemic to arid areas north of the Langeberg and Outeniqua Mountains in the Western and Eastern Cape.
Vlokia Single species, found near Montagu in the Western Cape.
Wooleya One species: Wooleya farinosa, endemic to the Namaqualand coastal plain (Northern Cape).

Ruschia group

Acrodon The 4 species are found in the Western and Eastern Cape.
Arenifera The 4 species are endemic to the Northern and Western Cape.
Astridia The 7 species are endemic to the Northern Cape and southern Namibia.
Ebracteola The 4 species are endemic to southern Africa, occurring over a fairly wide region of Namibia and South Africa.
Khadia The 6 species are endemic to southern Africa, occurring in the North-West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
Marlothistella One species: Marlothistella stenophylla, endemic to the Little Karoo in the Western Cape.
Polymita The 2 species are endemic to northern Namaqualand (Northern Cape).
Ruschia The 224 species are endemic to southern Africa, widespread in this region but absent from Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
Stayneria One species: Stayneria neilii, endemic to the Western Cape, occurring along the Breede River valley.

Leipoldtia group

Antimima The 99 species are endemic to southern Africa.
Argyroderma The 11 species are endemic to the Knersvlakte in the Western Cape.
Cephalophyllum The 33 species are endemic to Namibia, Northern Cape and the Western Cape.
Cheiridopsis The 33 species are endemic to Namibia, Northern Cape and the Western Cape, with the main concentration of species in Namaqualand.
Cylindrophyllum The 6 species are endemic to the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, with the main concentration of species in the Little Karoo.
Fenestraria One species: Fenestraria rhopalophylla, occurring from Lüderitz in Namibia to the Richtersveld in the Northern Cape.
Hallianthus One species: Hallianthus planus, occurring in Namaqualand (Northern Cape) and in the Tanqua Karoo of the Western Cape.
Jordaaniella The seven species are endemic to Namibia, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
Leipoldtia The 11 species occur in Namibia, Northern Cape, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, but most species occur in the Richtersveld vicinity.
Octopoma There are 8 species, occurring in Namaqualand (Northern Cape) and Little Karoo (Western Cape).
Odontophorus The four species are endemic to the Northern Cape.
Ottosonderia The 2 species are endemic to Namaqualand (Northern and Western Cape).
Pleiospilos The 4 species are endemic to Western, Eastern and Northern Cape, occurring mainly in the Little Karoo.
Schlechteranthus The 2 species are endemic to the Richtersveld, Northern Cape.
Vanzijlia One species: Vanzijlia annulata, endemic to the Northern and Western Cape.

Eberlanzia group

Amphibolia The 5 species are endemic to Namibia, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
Eberlanzia The 8 species are endemic to the southern Namib Desert (Namibia) and western Namaqualand (Northern Cape).
Ruschianthemum One species: Ruschianthemum gigas, found in the lower Orange River Valley stradling the Northern Cape and Namibia.
Stoeberia The 5 species are endemic to Namaqualand (Northern Cape) and Namibia.

Publications

Chesselet, P., Smith, G.F., Burgoyne, P.M., Klak, C., Hammer, S.A., Hartmann, H.E.K., Kurzweil, H., van Jaarsveld, E.J., van Wyk, B-E. & Leistner, O.A. 2000. Mesembryanthemaceae. In: Seed Plants of Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 360-410. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.