Conophytum hammeri is a small, endangered, South African species of succulent plant, of the genus Conophytum.

Conophytum hammeri
Conophytum hammeri in habitat.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Aizoaceae
Genus: Conophytum
Species:
C. hammeri
Binomial name
Conophytum hammeri
G.Will. & H.C.Kenn.[2]

Description

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This species is onion-shaped and single-bodied. It is slow-growing and usually solitary. It forms a protective papery sheath during its dry dormancy. Its pale yellow, nocturnal flowers have 18 to 26 petals. It superficially resembles Conophytum burgeri, in being single-bodied and cone-shaped, and has even been hybridised with this species in cultivation. However C. hammeri is smaller and solitary, and has an obscure translucent window on its summit. Other similar, single-bodied Conophytums of the "Cheshire-Feles" section include Conophytum ratum and Conophytum maughanii.

Distribution

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This species is indigenous to the northernmost parts of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. It was first discovered in the 1990s, on gentle quartz-covered slopes in the eastern Richtersveld.[3][4][5]

References

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  1. ^ Young, A.J. (2022). "Conophytum hammeri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T202851612A202851616. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T202851612A202851616.en. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Conophytum hammeri | International Plant Names Index".
  3. ^ Conophytum hammeri - distribution
  4. ^ Redlist
  5. ^ Hammer, S. Dumpling and his wife: New view of the genus Conophytum. EAE Creative Colour, Norwich. 2002.

Further reading

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  • Hammer,S.(2002) Dumpling and his wife: New views of the genus Conophytum EAE Creative Colour Ltd. ISBN 0-9539326-1-3.
  • Hammer,S.(1993) The genus Conophytum : A Conograph Succulent Plant Publications, Pretoria. ISBN 0-620-17633-4.
  • National Botanical Institute of South Africa.(1993) List of Southern African Succulent Plants Umdaus Press. ISBN 1-919 766-04-9