Exomis is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. It just contains one species, Exomis microphylla (Thunb.) Aellen[2] It is also in the Chenopodioideae subfamily.[3]
| Exomis microphylla | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Subfamily: | Chenopodioideae |
| Tribe: | Atripliceae |
| Genus: | Exomis Fenzl ex Moq. |
| Species: | E. microphylla
|
| Binomial name | |
| Exomis microphylla (Thunb.) Aellen
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
editThey are shrubs with dichotomous branching (forking into two equal branches), monoecious with few bisexual flowers (with male and female reproductive structures in separate flowers but on the same plant). The staminate flowers (male flowers) are in clusters, these forming terminal spikes with a 5-lobed perianth. It has 5 stamens, with the filaments basally fused. The pistillate flowers (female flowers) are irregularly dispersed between the staminate ones. They are surrounded by 2 cylindrical bracteoles (small modified leaves) accrescent (increasing in size) when in fruit. The fruit (or seed capsule), is beaked at the top with the pericarp (wall of the fruit) fleshy and adherent (linked). The seeds are vertical with the embryo annular (circle or ring shaped). With the radicle (root) pointing downward.[4]
Ecology
editThe larva of Brephidium metophis, (the tinktinkie blue), a butterfly feed on the plant.[5][6]
The bush Karoo rat (Otomys unisulcatus), builds its nests, dome-shaped stick shelters or lodges, using the plant stems of Exomis.[7]
Taxonomy
editIn Khoi is known as 'Hondebos'.[8][9]
The genus name of Exomis is derived from Greek word exomis or exomidos meaning a 'a man's vest without sleeves'.[8]
The Latin specific epithet of microphylla means small leaved.[10] It was first published in Chenop. Monogr. Enum. on page 49 in 1840.[2][4] The species of Exomis microphylla was published in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. Vol.70 on page 375 in 1939.[1]
There is a known variant Exomis microphylla var. microphylla (with its own synonym of Atriplex microphylla Willd.).[11]
The genus is recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service and they do list all known species and all known variants.[12]
Distribution
editIt is native to South Africa,[4][8] it is found in the provinces of the Cape Provinces and Free State and also in Namibia.[2] arid areas[13]
The shrub can be found growing on low-lying sandy areas with other plants such as; Zygophyllum cordiflorum, Z. flexuosum, Z. morgsana, Atriplex semibaccata, Ruschia geminiflora, Ehrharta calycina, Muraltia dumosa, Searsia glauca, Limonium perigrinum, Restio oleocharis and Euclea racemosa.[7]
Uses
editExomis microphylla is known as 'unvenyathi' and used as a folk medicine in Alice, South Africa, a leaf decoction is used in a remedy for endometritis and vaginitis.[8][14][15] The Cape Khoi people used the leaf decoctions with milk to remedy for epilepsy, winds, cramps and also convulsions in infants.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b "Exomis microphylla (Thunb.) Aellen". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ a b c "Exomis Fenzl ex Moq. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Kadereit, Gudrun; Mavrodiev, Evgeny V.; Zacharias, Elizabeth H.; Sukhorukov, Alexander P. (October 2010). "Molecular phylogeny of Atripliceae (Chenopodioideae, Chenopodiaceae): Implications for systematics, biogeography, flower and fruit evolution, and the origin of C4 photosynthesis". American Journal of Botany. 97 (10): 1664–1687.
- ^ a b c "Exomis | proiBiosphere - Chenopodium Pilot". portal.cybertaxonomy.org. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Marinus J.A. Werger and A.C. van Bruggen (Editors) Biogeography and Ecology of Southern Africa (2012), p. 771, at Google Books
- ^ "HOSTS - The Hostplants and Caterpillars Database at the Natural History Museum". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ a b Vermeulen, H.C.; Nel, J.A.J. (1988). "The bush Karoo rat Otomys unisulcatus on the Cape West coast". S. Afr. J. Zoo. 23 (2).
- ^ a b c d Umberto Quattrocchi CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (2012), p. 1711, at Google Books
- ^ a b Van Wyk, B.-E.; Gorelik, B. (May 2017). "The history and ethnobotany of Cape herbal teas". South African Journal of Botany. 110: 18–38.
- ^ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 184533731X.
- ^ "Exomis microphylla var. microphylla | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Species of Exomis Fenzl ex Moq". npgsweb.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Amaranthaceae (sugarbeet, spinach family)". www.biodiversityexplorer.info. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Prelude Medicinal Plants Database - Browse by reference - VD 17 | Royal Museum for Central Africa - Tervuren - Belgium". www.africamuseum.be. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ Cheryl Moses The Effects of Exomis Microphylla and Atriplex Lindleyi on Metabolism and Health (University of the Western Cape, 2002 - Materia medica) at Google Books