Frankenia portulacifolia

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Vulnerable

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Frankeniaceae

Herbs, subshrubs , or shrubs . Leaves simple , small, opposite, petiolate [or sessile], with salt glands ; paired leaves united at base by sheathing margins ; leaf blade flattened [to subterete], margin entire, slightly to gradually [to strongly] revolute . Flowers hermaphroditic [rarely unisexual ], small, actinomorphic , sessile, subtended by [2 or]4 leaflike floral bracts, solitary or clustered in terminal or axillary , simple or compound dichasia (frequently with some monochasial branching) . Calyx persistent , tubular , ribbed , [4 or]5[-7]-dentate. Petals [4 or]5[-7], free , imbricate, with spreading limb, clawed at base, with a scalelike appendage or ligule present [rarely absent] on adaxial face of claw . Stamens [3-]6[to many]; filaments free or slightly united at base; anthers 2-thecate, extrose, longitudinally dehiscent . Pistil 1, consisting of (1-) 3(or 4) carpels; ovary superior, 1-loculed; ovules numerous on parietal placentas [to fewer, rarely 1]; style solitary, slender; style branches [1-]3[or 4], as many as carpels. Capsule included in persistent calyx, loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds [1 to] numerous, small; testa thinly crustaceous ; embryo immersed in endosperm.

One genus and ca. 70 species: N and S Africa, C and SW Asia, Atlantic islands, Australia, Europe, North and South America; one species in China.[1]

Genus Frankenia

Morphological characters and geographic distribution are the same as those of the family .[2]

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [3].

Ecology: Found in dry subtropical to tropical shrubland, rocky shores and other rocky areas.[3].

List of Habitats :

•     1     Forest   
  
•     1.5     Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry   
  
•     6     Rocky areas (eg. inland cliffs , mountain peaks)   
  
•     12     Marine Intertidal   
  
•     12.1     Marine Intertidal - Rocky Shoreline   
  
•     13     Marine Coastal/Supratidal   
  
•     13.1     Marine Coastal/Supratidal - Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands   
[more info]

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Beatsonia portulacifolia Roxb.

Notes

Publishing author : Spreng. Publication : Syst. Veg. (ed. 16) [Sprengel] 2: 134 1825 [Jan-May 1825]

Similar Species

Members of the genus Frankenia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 10 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

F. hirsuta (Sea Heath) · F. jamesii (Frank Bush) · F. johnstonii (Johnston Frankenia) · F. laevis (Sea Heath) · F. palmeri (Palmer's Frankenia) · F. pauciflora (Southern Sea-Heath) · F. portulacifolia (St Helena Tea) · F. pulverulenta (European Frankenia) · F. salina (Alkali Heath) · F. thymifolia (Sea Heath)

More Info

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• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• An illustrated dictionary of medicine, biology and allied sciences. .. by George M. Gould. 5th ed., with additions and corrections. PhiladelphiaP. Blakiston's Son1907 url p. 493.
• The Bradley bibliography; a guide to the literature of the woody plants of the world published before the beginning of the twentieth century; Cambridge, Riverside Press, 1911-18. url p. 561.
• The century supplement to the dictionary of gardening, a practical and scientific encyclopaedia of horticulture for gardeners and botanists / by Geo. Nicholson. .. [et al.]. Hyde Park, Mass.: Geo. T. King; 1901. url p. 124.
• Zhang Pengyun & Zhang Yaojia. 1990. Frankeniaceae. In: Li Hsiwen, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 50(2): 139-141.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 11, 2012.
• Cairns-Wicks, R 2003. Frankenia portulacifolia. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 01February2012.
• Cairns-Wicks, R. 2003. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 19, 2008.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• The International Plant Names Index. Accessed Dec 27, 2011.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 7151688
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 366330-1
• IUCN ID: 210008
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1027470

Footnotes

1. Qiner Yang & Molly Whalen "Frankeniaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 57. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. "Frankenia". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 57. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. Cairns-Wicks, R 2003. Frankenia portulacifolia. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.