Xerophyta
Xerophyta is a genus of flowering plants in the family Velloziaceae. It was named in 1789 by de Jussieu. It is native to Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassLiliopsida
- OrderPandanales
- FamilyVelloziaceae
Native toAngola, Botswana, Cape Provinces, Djibouti, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Free State, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal
via GBIF · Kew POWO
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Xerophyta is a genus of flowering plants in the family Velloziaceae. It was named in 1789 by de Jussieu. It is native to Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula.
Some species in this genus are poikilochlorophyllous plants. This means that during dry climatic conditions, they lose chlorophyll and cease photosynthesis and transpiration. Thus they are extremely tolerant of desiccation . Hence the name Xerophyta, from Ancient Greek ξηρός (xeros, "dry") and φυτά (phutá), plural of φυτόν (phutón, “plant”).