Trichodiadema barbatum

Trichodiadema barbatum is succulent plant of the genus Trichodiadema, native to the Western Cape Province, South Africa. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[3]

Trichodiadema barbatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Aizoaceae
Genus:	Trichodiadema
Species:	T. barbatum
Binomial name
Trichodiadema barbatum (L.) Schwantes[1]
Synonyms[2]
List Mesembryanthemum barbatum L. Mesembryanthemum stellatum Mill. Mesembryanthemum stelligerum Haw. Trichodiadema stellatum (Mill.) Schwantes Trichodiadema stelligerum (Haw.) Schwantes

A small, erect plant, sometimes partly decumbent, with slender, stick-like branches. The grey-green leaves are slightly triangular in cross-section, and have large bladder cells on their leaf-surface. Bristles (5-7) emerge from the dark tip of the leaf.

The solitary, bright purple flowers have petals with notched apices, small, pale filamentous staminodes, and yellow anthers.

The fruit capsule is 5-locular, like that of Trichodiadema burgeri, but unlike many other species in the genus.[4][5]

References

1. Z. Sukkulentenk. 2: 188 (1926)
2. "Trichodiadema barbatum (L.) Schwantes". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
3. "Trichodiadema barbatum". The Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
4. I.M. Niesler (2017). Trichodiadema Ruschioideae. In: Hartmann H. (eds) Aizoaceae. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg: 341
5. H.E.K. Hartmann and I.M. Niesler. (2013). A new morphological study of the genus Trichodiadema (Aizoaceae) permits the description of a new subgenus, t. subg. Gemiclausa. Bradleya 31:58-75.