Tetragonia
Tetragonia is a genus of 51 species of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae, native to temperate and subtropical regions mostly of the Southern Hemisphere, in New Zealand, Australia, southern and eastern Africa, and western South America, and eastern Asia.
Description
Plants of the genus Tetragonia are herbs or small shrubs. Leaves are alternate and succulent, with flowers typically yellow and small in size. Flowers can be axillary, solitary or fasciculate, greenish or yellowish in colour and mostly bisexual. Fruit are initially succulent but become dry and woody with age. The genus name comes from "tetragonus", meaning "four-angled" and referring to the shape of the plants' fruits.Sphaeraphides occur in at least the leaves and stalks of at least some species.
Distribution
About forty species of Tetragonia are found in southern Africa, from Angola to South Africa. They also occur in Australia, eastern Africa, western south America, and Asia.Classification
The genus was first formally described by the botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in the work Species Plantarum. Synonyms for the genus include Tetragonocarpos Mill., Demidovia Pall., and Tetragonella Miq.Human use and cultivation
The best known species of Tetragonia is the leafy vegetable food crop, Tetragonia tetragonoides. New Zealand spinach is widely cultivated as a summer leafy vegetable.Some of the other species are also eaten locally, such as Tetragonia decumbens which is a local delicacy in its native southern Africa.
Species
51 species are accepted.- Tetragonia acanthocarpa
- Tetragonia angustifolia
- Tetragonia arbuscula
- Tetragonia caesia
- Tetragonia calycina
- Tetragonia chenopodioides
- Tetragonia copiapina
- Tetragonia coronata
- Tetragonia cristata
- Tetragonia crystallina
- Tetragonia decumbens
- Tetragonia diptera
- Tetragonia distorta
- Tetragonia echinata
- Tetragonia erecta
- Tetragonia eremaea
- Tetragonia espinosae
- Tetragonia fruticosa
- Tetragonia galenioides
- Tetragonia glauca
- Tetragonia halimoides
- Tetragonia haworthii
- Tetragonia herbacea
- Tetragonia hirsuta
- Tetragonia implexicoma
- Tetragonia lasiantha
- Tetragonia macrocarpa
- Tetragonia macroptera
- Tetragonia maritima
- Tetragonia microcarpa
- Tetragonia microptera
- Tetragonia moorei
- Tetragonia namaquensis
- Tetragonia nigrescens
- Tetragonia ovata
- Tetragonia pedunculata
- Tetragonia pillansii
- Tetragonia portulacoides
- Tetragonia rangeana
- Tetragonia reduplicata
- Tetragonia robusta
- Tetragonia rosea
- Tetragonia saligna
- Tetragonia sarcophylla
- Tetragonia sphaerocarpa
- Tetragonia spicata
- Tetragonia tetragonoides
- Tetragonia trigyna
- Tetragonia verrucosa
- Tetragonia vestita
- ''Tetragonia virgata''
Formerly placed here
- ''Anisostigma schenckii''