Kingdom Plantae Rank Genus | Family Aizoaceae Order Caryophyllales | |
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Similar Meyerophytum, Schwantesia, Rhombophyllum, Cerochlamys, Hereroa | ||
Mitrophyllum is a genus of succulent plants of the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to the arid region around the Richtersveld, on the border of South Africa and Namibia.
Contents
Description
The species generally grow stems, at the top of which two succulent leaves appear. Similar to the closely related genera of Monilaria and Meyerophytum, these leaf-pairs alternate consecutively between two different types of leaf-growth (heterophylly) and during the exceptionally hot summer they remain inactive in a dry sheath. When fused, this leaf pair is referred to as the plant's "mitre", and this is the origin of the genus name.
Cultivation
In cultivation, the plants are not difficult to grow. However they require deep well-drained sandy soil and sufficient sun exposure. They are also adapted to very dry summers and watering mainly over the winter. Their period of growth is primarily over late autumn and winter.
They are slow growing, maturing over many decades, and are difficult to propagate by cuttings; consequently seed is the preferred means of propagation.
Species
