Berkheyopsis | |
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Scientific classification
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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
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Binomial name | |
Berkheyopsis echinus (
Less.) O.Hoffm. (1895)
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Synonyms [1] | |
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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]
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]