This strange looking thing is actually meaty

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Picture and text: network

"what, there are succulent plants in Australia?" Many people will think that Australia is not only a succulent country, but also a seriously undervalued "succulent country". Here succulent plants are rich in species, curious in shape and fresh in color. In any way, it is not lost to the familiar hot spots such as South Africa and Mexico. Now, let's talk about the succulent plants in Australia.

If you are not a professional, I am afraid you may not be able to guess correctly even if you are given 10 chances. Let's make a face acquaintance with the editor.

NO.1

"are you lying to me that you are so good-looking that you are related to Portulaca oleracea?" I dare not. Tall trees like carambola Averrhoa carambola and Oxalis corymbosa, a low and luxuriant grass in the lawn, are members of the sorrel family.

For the time being, there is no official Chinese name for this succulent plant. The genus name Calandrinia is taken in memory of the Swiss scholar Jean-Louis Calandrini. Domestic scholars have translated it as "matchmaker flower", which comes from the English name "red maid" of this kind of plant. Combined with their wax-like leaves, in order to facilitate the introduction, they were named "matchmaker flowers of dripping wax".

Nothing attracts more attention than the round fleshy leaves of the matchmaker. In the eyes of foodie, the waterdrop-shaped shape, bright red, and attractive luster are simply jelly beans accidentally sprinkled on the floor by the creator, and the meat is so delicious that one can't help but want to taste it. No wonder the English name of the matchmaker flower is "Jelly Beans".

The matchmaker flower is an annual herb. Their main stem is very short, the first layer of leaves will grow in a circle around the ground, and then a number of twigs protrude from the center of the ring and spread everywhere, and the branchlets will grow and cover as wide as one meter. The whole plant is like an alien fortress, constantly sending troops to attack the city and expand the territory, which is amazing.

But most of the time, their leaves are ordinary grass green. The stamps choose their bright red appearance, which will only appear when the temperature difference between day and night is large and the sunshine is sufficient. At this time, due to the destruction and decomposition of chlorophyll, anthocyanins and carotenoids and other anthocyanins have the upper hand. So the color of the leaves will slowly transition from grass green to cream yellow and orange until they are dyed bright red.

If there is not enough light for a long time, the originally round, chubby leaves will release themselves, like being dragged into an octopus monster with teeth and claws, and become unrecognizable to her own mother. Their flowers are small and delicate, petals as thin as cicada wings, pink as cherry blossoms, whenever in full bloom, dotted with pink dotted in the desert, very beautiful.

The matchmaker flower is distributed in the central desert of Western Australia, which is dry and rainy all the year round. In order to adapt to the extreme environment, their leaves are highly fleshy and store a lot of water. In addition, most of the plants of the genus Linnaeus have radish-like underground roots, which can not only provide water, but also firmly take root in the sandy soil to avoid being uprooted by strong winds.

These tenacious plants absorb water desperately in dry land, strive to reproduce, and nourish other life: emu chicks peck at their leaves and roots to get precious water from them to survive the first six weeks of their most vulnerable lives. Not only animals, but also the aborigines of Western Australia will harvest and grow them as a source of food.

NO.2

It's another strange purslane. The plant is creeping and trailing, the leaves are round or cordate, leathery and thick, succulent. Their veins are obvious, forming irregular cracked and sunken textures, and the leaf surface is slightly arched, like little turtles hiding in the gravel. For the convenience of introduction, I will call it Portulaca oleracea.

The leaf surface of Portulaca oleracea is usually grass green to dark green, but it is close to dark brown when it comes out, which is similar to the color of sandy soil from the place of origin, and is well integrated with the surrounding environment to play the effect of camouflage and avoid being eaten by other animals. If it were not for their large and bright yellow flowers, it would be difficult to recognize them at a glance in the vast desert.

The back of their leaves is fleshy, densely covered with fine reticular texture, and the mesophyll tissue shows translucent garnet red, reflecting an oily luster in the sun. The flower diameter of Portulaca oleracea can reach 35mm, which is "huge" compared to the leaves the size of the little finger. The petals and stamens are bright yellow, bringing vitality to the dark red sandy loam.

There are many succulent plants that can be called "masters of camouflage" in nature. because of their posture, shape, color, etc., and their surroundings (gravel), it is difficult to tell the truth from the false. we call this kind of plant "stone mimicry plant". Most of these plants are found in Africa and Mexico, such as the familiar stone flowers, twelve rolls, tortoise shell peonies, etc., but they are quite rare in Australia. Most of the time, this ability of "stone mimicry" can only be seen in Portulaca oleracea.

NO.3

If even this kind of plant can't subvert your common sense, then they will be so curious for nothing. This succulent plant, which seems to be juicy with a single bite, can grow into a small shrub about 60 centimeters high. Their leaves are degraded, and the "sausages" that look slippery and tender and creamy mint green in the stamps are their highly fleshy stems, which can not only replace the leaves for photosynthesis, but also store a large amount of water at the same time. Adapt to the extremely dry environment of its origin.

The lotus root-colored "pine cones" at the top of the "sausage" are actually their spikes, formed by a number of hard bracts that are mutually opposite and tightly clasped. Over time, it will continue to grow on both sides. The white whiskers dotted on the bracts are their unusually mini flowers, only about 1mm. This succulent plant produces millet-like seeds, which are still used by local natives and ground into flour to make bread.

And the same parts as "Birthday Bun with Bean Paste Filling" on the "pine cones" are their growing points. During the flowering period, "Birthday Bun with Bean Paste Filling" will yearn for a small segment of stem nodes, and then divide new inflorescences on both sides. Inflorescences are nearly perpendicular to the stem and cross opposite to the lower adjacent inflorescences. A new growing point will appear in the middle of the inflorescence, thus constantly growing upwards stem nodes and lateral inflorescences; non-flowering, "Birthday Bun with Bean Paste Filling" part will continue to grow up new stem nodes, and sometimes lateral branches, gradually growing into a small shrub.

As they mature, the fleshy stems near the ground will slowly shrink, leaving only dry wood-like xylem, when the whole plant will become a very good-looking pink purple.

The sausage is distributed in the saline-alkali areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, where it is dry and rainy all the year round, and few plants can survive. It is only after a brief flood every year that the plant will sprout and grow quickly.

More than 30 species of the genus Salicornia have been found, most of which are unique to Australia, only Tecticornia indica is widely distributed in the tropical coastal areas around the Indian Ocean. You may have often seen a kind of freak named Halosarcia bulbosa, which looks like a steamed bread kebab at a barbecue stall, which is actually a succulent plant of the genus Euphorbia. In 2007, Halosarcia and three other genera (Pachycornia, Sclerostegia, Tegicornia) were incorporated into the Tecticornia genus.

NO.4

Compared with the previous appearance of the "fantastic trio", the last one looks much more mundane. This is a perennial low shrub that is much branched and often grows into a large clump. The greatest feature of this kind of apricot is its stick-shaped fleshy leaves and star-like white flowers.

Their fleshy leaves are mutually opposite, ice crystal-like vesicular cells are visible to the naked eye, and contain salty cell sap. Why is this so? This is because they grow in inland salt lakes and saline zones in central and western Australia, and in order to adapt to the harsh environment, they close their stomata during the hot day, maximize transpiration and reduce water loss in the body. at the same time, the absorbed salt is excreted into the bubble cells.

Unlike other succulent apricots that produce showy flowers, Stewart's pig face can only produce simple white flowers, which have no petals and calyx, only a perianth of four lanceolate lobes and anthers pink or white. This succulent plant is also one of the natural ingredients of Australian aborigines. It can be eaten raw or cooked. It is simply Australia's "wheatgrass".

In Australia, there are nearly 400 species of plants that can be called "succulent". Of course, this is not a botanical concept. Whether it is succulent or not is a consensus reached by the horticultural community. For centuries, because they are not the mainstream category in horticulture, coupled with their unorthodox appearance and scattered distribution, Australian succulent plants have been ignored by the horticultural community, even by professional botanists or experts. Attention to such plants is not high.

The four succulent plants lucky enough to appear on the stamps are only four young generals in the Australian succulent army. There are more exotic and interesting species that need to be further discovered and studied.

See here, is not super! Class! Want to raise succulent plants? Don't worry, these rare succulent varieties are not easy to raise, so you'd better raise the common succulent ones first. It's the hardest summer for succulent plants. How are you doing with succulent plants?

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