Mossia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Aizoaceae.[1] It only contains one known species, Mossia intervallaris.[2]

Mossia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Aizoaceae
Subfamily: Ruschioideae
Tribe: Ruschieae
Genus: Mossia
N.E.Br.
Species:
M. intervallaris
Binomial name
Mossia intervallaris
(L.Bolus) N.E.Br.
Synonyms
  • Antimima intervallaris (L.Bolus) H.E.K.Hartmann
  • Mesembryanthemum intervallare L.Bolus
  • Ruschia intervallaris L.Bolus

Its native range is Lesotho and South Africa and it is found in the provinces of the Cape Provinces, Free State and the Northern Provinces.[2] It is listed as least concern on the Red List of South African Plants.[3]

The genus name of Mossia is in honour of Charles Edward Moss (1870–1930), an English-born South African botanist, the youngest son of a nonconformist minister, and is noted for being the editor of the first two parts of The Cambridge British Flora published in 1914 and 1920.[4] The Latin specific epithet of intervallaris refers to unusually long internodes (portion of a stem between two nodes).[5] Both the genus and species were first described and published in Gard. Chron., series 3, Vol.87 on page 71 in 1930.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Mossia N.E.Br. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Mossia intervallaris (L.Bolus) N.E.Br. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Threatened Species Programme | Genus: Mossia". redlist.sanbi.org. SANBI Red List of South African Plants. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  4. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2018). Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition [Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2018. ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  5. ^ Heidrun E.K. Hartmann (editor) Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Aizoaceae F-Z (2002), p. 91, at Google Books

Other sources

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  • Hall, A.V., De Winter, M., De Winter, B. and Van Oosterhout, S.A.M. 1980. Threatened plants of southern Africa. South African National Scienctific Programmes Report 45. CSIR, Pretoria.
  • Hilton-Taylor, C. 1996. Red data list of southern African plants. Strelitzia 4. South African National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
  • Pfab, M.F. and Victor, J.E. 2002. Threatened plants of Gauteng, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 68:370-375.
  • Raimondo, D., von Staden, L., Foden, W., Victor, J.E., Helme, N.A., Turner, R.C., Kamundi, D.A. and Manyama, P.A. 2009. Red List of South African Plants. Strelitzia 25. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.