Pseudolithos is a genus of succulent of the family Apocynaceae, indigenous to arid areas of Somalia, Yemen and Oman.
Description and naming
The plants were first described as a genus in 1965; the name
"Pseudo-lithos" means
"false-stone" and refers to their pebble-like appearance. It was originally proposed as
Lithocaulon earlier in 1956, but this name was already in use for a genus of fossil
algae.
All species in this genus are highly succulent, small in size, and exhibit
tessellation on their stems' surface. Their small flowers appear on the spherical body's surface.
- Species
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!species
!distribution |
| | Pseudolithos caput-viperae
Lavranos | Somalia |
| | Pseudolithos cubiformis
(P.R.O. Bally) P.R.O. Bally | N Somalia |
| | Pseudolithos dodsonianus
(Lavranos) Bruyns & Meve | Somalia & Oman |
| | Pseudolithos gigas
Dioli | E Ethiopia |
| | Pseudolithos harardheranus
Dioli | Somalia |
| | Pseudolithos horwoodii
P.R.O. Bally & Lavranos | Somalia |
| | Pseudolithos mccoyi
Lavranos | Yemen & Oman |
| | Pseudolithos migiurtinus
(Chiov.) P.R.O. Bally | S + C Somalia |
| | Pseudolithos sphaericus
(P.R.O. Bally) P.R.O. Bally | N Somalia |
Taxonomy
Phylogenetic studies have shown the genus to be monophyletic, and most closely related to the widespread
Caralluma stapeliads of North Africa. Marginally more distantly related is a sister branch comprising the genera
Echidnopsis and
Rhytidocaulon.
[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.]
External links
