Hoplophyllum [SEP] parent taxon
Hoplophyllum
Hoplophyllum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It has two species, "Hoplophyllum spinosum" and "Hoplophyllum ferox", both native to South Africa.
Both species are shrubs. The leaves are hard and spine-tipped, much longer than wide, and either cylindrical or somewhat flattened. They are grooved with stripes running lengthwise. The type species is "Hoplophyllum spinosum".
"Hoplophyllum" is derived from two Greek words, "hoplon" "a tool or weapon" and
"phyllon" "a leaf", a reference to the spiny leaves.
The name "Hoplophyllum" was originated in 1836 by A.P. de Candolle when he assigned "Hoplophyllum spinosum" to this genus in his classic work Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis. This species had originally been named "Pteronia spinosa" by Linnaeus filius in 1782 in his book "Supplementum Plantarum".
The closest relative of "Hoplophyllum" is "Eremothamnus", another native of southern Africa. In one classification, published in 2009, these