Archive of Vanished Flora
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Salt-bloom Herb Halophilanthus uyunensis
Specimen · N°011 · Salt

Halophilanthus uyunensis

On a land of nothing but salt, a single flower blooms.

FOUND 20.1°S 67.5°W · Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia  ·  ✝ EX · Last seen 1975

A low succulent rosette about 8–14 cm tall. It spreads thick grey-green leaves over the surface and, through the night, crystallizes fine white salt along their edges. Each plant bears a single small pale peach-white flower, rooting in the slightest gaps of the salt-rich crust.

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Specimen Plates

8 plates · click to enlarge
Salt-bloom Herb plate 1PLATE I
Salt-bloom Herb plate 2PLATE II
Salt-bloom Herb plate 3PLATE III
Salt-bloom Herb plate 4PLATE IV
Salt-bloom Herb plate 5PLATE V
Salt-bloom Herb plate 6PLATE VI
Salt-bloom Herb plate 7PLATE VII
Salt-bloom Herb plate 8PLATE VIII
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Field Note

Habitat
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. At the end of the rainy season it is seen on the rims of hexagonal cracks only at dawn, when the salt crust is barely damp.
Local name
Lamp of Salt
Folklore
Locally, the thicker the salt grown on the leaves by morning, the shorter that year's rainy season was said to be.
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Locator

Coordinates
20.1°S 67.5°W
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
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Record

On a land of nothing but salt, a single flower blooms.

As far as the eye sees, there is nothing but white crystal.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia.

At the end of the rainy season, at a dawn when the salt crust is barely damp, the Salt-bloom Herb appears.

Thick grey-green leaves spread low over the surface.

At their centre, a single small pale peach-white flower opens.

More分類・学名・語源などの詳しい標本データ
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Classification

Classification & specimen data
Scientific name
Halophilanthus uyunensis  A. Reinholt, 1972
Taxonomy
Plantae › Angiosperms › Dicotyledons › HalophilanthalesHalophilanthaceaeHalophilanthus › uyunensis
Voucher
AVF-011 · Holotype
Archive of Vanished Flora (AVF)
Conservation
✝ EX — Extinct Last seen 1975
Collector
N. Drei
1969-12-24
Synonym
Halophilopsis uyunensis L. Fontaine, 1967
Protologue (Latin)
Herba perennis, rhizomate tenui, foliis linearibus, inflorescentia pauciflora. Typus: Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia. Species iam extincta.
Discovered / Described
1969 / 1972
Height
8〜14cm
Life form
Rosette perennial
Phyllotaxy
Basal (rosette)
Chromosome
2n = 36
Flowering
A few hours around dawn
Pollination
Nocturnal small moths
Substrate · pH
Saline soil, strongly alkaline (pH 8.5+)
Elevation
200〜1,200 m
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Etymology

Etymology of the name
HalophilanthusGENUS
haloSalt
phil-loving
anthflower
uyunensisEPITHET
uyunof Uyuni
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Related

Specimens of the same habitat
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