Appearance
This is a succulent, creeping, short-lived, mat-forming perennial herb growing in flat clumps on the ground from a woody base. Plants only rise to about 10 centimetres tall but prostrate stems reach up to about 60 centimetres long.The stems are green and stalk-round. The fleshy, small leaves are opposite, ovate to cordate, about 2.5 centimetres long and covered with fine papillae. Bright pink to purplish solitary flowers appear in the leaf axils, open during the day but close up at night and remain closed on cloudy days.
These colored whorls are not petals, but non-functional modified stamens. Normal stamens are yellow. Flowers bloom primarily from spring to fall. The fruit is a capsule of little more than one centimeter in length with millimeter brown tuberose seeds. There is a variegated form.
Naming
Genus name means middle-embryo flower in reference to the position of the ovary in the flower. The specific epithet is derived from Latin for heart-shaped leaves.
Distribution
Native to the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, this species has become widely known as an ornamental plant. Today it can be found growing in Australia, escaped gardens and naturalized in some parts of California, Oregon and Florida, in the Mediterranean region of the Europe. The plant was recently determined to be invasive in California and was listed as a wildland weed red alert.Uses
The primary use of the plant is ornamental. The locals of the region of origin use the plant for its anti-inflammatory properties.References:
Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.
