Hoplophyllum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Subfamily: | Cichorioideae |
Tribe: | Eremothamneae |
Genus: | Hoplophyllum DC. |
Type species | |
Hoplophyllum spinosum DC.
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Species | |
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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]