Berkheyopsis echinus is a species of flowering plant in the sunflower family, Asteraceae. It is the sole species in genus Berkheyopsis. It is a perennial herb native to southern Africa, where it grows in Botswana, Namibia, and the Cape Provinces and Free State of South Africa.[1]

Berkheyopsis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Vernonioideae
Tribe: Arctotideae
Subtribe: Gorteriinae
Genus: Berkheyopsis
O.Hoffm. (1892)
Species:
B. echinus
Binomial name
Berkheyopsis echinus
(Less.) O.Hoffm. (1895)
Synonyms[1]
  • Berkheya echinus (Less.) O.Hoffm. (1892)
  • Berkheyopsis kuntzei O.Hoffm. ex Kuntze (1898)
  • Gazania burchellii DC. (1838)
  • Gorteria hispida Lichtst. ex Less. (1832)
  • Hirpicium echinus Less. (1832)
  • Meridiana echinus (Less.) Kuntze (1891)

It is a bushy perennial herb growing up to 40 cm tall, with multiple prickly stems growing from a long taproot. It grows in deserts and dry shrublands.[1]

The species was first described as Hirpicium echinus by Christian Friedrich Lessing in 1832. Karl August Otto Hoffmann renamed the species Berkheyopsis echinus in 1895.[1] Many authorities continued to treat Berkheyopsis as a synonym of Hirpicium. In 2018 Stångberg, Karis, and Anderberg concluded that Hirpicium was paraphyletic, and that the species formed a distinct clade, and revived Berkheyopsis as a monotypic genus.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d Berkheyopsis echinus (Less.) O.Hoffm. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  2. ^ F. Stångberg, P.O. Karis, A. Anderberg, 2018. Intergeneric relationships in the Gorteria clade of Arctotideae-Gorteriinae (Asteraceae), with description of a new genus, Roessleria. South African Journal of Botany, Volume 118, 2018. Pages 216-231. ISSN 0254-6299, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2018.07.018.