Kunkeliella subsucculenta

[johnw]

The past couple of months we've been following Carl Wright's fascinating travels & discoveries on the Canary Islands.  This endangered endemic, Kunkeliella subsucculenta, came up recently. Is it indeed a succulent?  Family?

johnw

[Maggi Young]

From  a Springerlink note on a paper on two endemic plants of the Canary Islands:
" Kunkeliella subsucculenta Kämmer (Santalaceae) is a monoecious and succulent shrub, with myrmecophilous fecundation and a zoochorous dispersion of seeds (Valido 1990)."

  Not that I understand any of that!
But it's a great name, isn't it?!

[Hoy]

http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/161943/0

[shelagh]

Thanks for the link Hoy, what a pity there isn't a picture of the plant.

[Neil]

a page with photos

http://www.floradecanarias.com/kunkeliella_subsucculenta.html

[Maggi Young]

More pix here :

https://tenerifenaturewalks.wordpress.com/tag/barlia-metlesicsiana/

http://www.arkive.org/escobilla-carnosa/kunkeliella-subsucculenta/image-G140549.html

 Odd looking thing!

http://www.arkive.org/escobilla-carnosa/kunkeliella-subsucculenta/image-G140549.html

[johnw]

A few screen shots from Carl's FB page.  I trust he'd be okay with this, great chap.

john

[Tristan_He]

From  a Springerlink note on a paper on two endemic plants of the Canary Islands:
" Kunkeliella subsucculenta Kämmer (Santalaceae) is a monoecious and succulent shrub, with myrmecophilous fecundation and a zoochorous dispersion of seeds (Valido 1990)."

For goodness's sake! Myrmecophilous fecundation indeed! Why not just say ant pollinated?

Reminds me of my first A level class - animal taxonomy and diversity. The teacher handed out a worksheet on which was inscribed 'Phylum Coelenterata. Diploblastic acoelomate metazoans.'

Sometimes language isn't about communication!