Monanthes is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of small, succulent, subtropical plants of the Crassulaceae

Crassulaceae

Crassulaceae, or the orpine family, are a family of dicotyledons. They store water in their succulent leaves. They are found worldwide, but mostly occur in the Northern Hemisphere and southern Africa, typically in dry and/or cold areas where water may be scarce...

 family. The about ten species are mostly endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to the Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

 and Salvage Islands, with some found on Madeira

Madeira

Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...

. Its center of diversity is Tenerife

Tenerife

Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...

, with seven species occurring on this island. On Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura , a Spanish island, is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is situated at 28°20' north, 14°00' west. At 1,660 km² it is the second largest of the Canary Islands, after Tenerife...

 and Lanzarote

Lanzarote

Lanzarote , a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the autonomous Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.9 km2, it stands as the fourth largest of the islands...

, only M. laxiflora occurs.

Monanthes are not frost-resistant. They are linked with the genera Sempervivum, Greenovia, Aichryson

Aichryson

Aichryson is a genus of about 15 species of succulent, subtropical plants, mostly native to the Canary Islands, with a few in the Azores, Madeira and Morocco, and one in Portugal.The species of Aichryson are not frost-resistant...

and Aeonium

Aeonium

Aeonium is a genus of about 35 species of succulent, subtropical plants of the family Crassulaceae.The name comes from the ancient Greek "aionos" ....

, which is obvious from their similar flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s.

Species of Monanthes differ considerably in life- and growth-form. M. icterica, which is also genetically quite distant to other Monanthes species, is annual, while the other species are perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

.

Monanthes is a rare example where a species re-colonizes the continent from an island, after their ancestors have colonized the island from the continent.

Species

• Monanthes anagensis
  Monanthes anagensis
  Monanthes anagensis is the largest species in the genus Monanthes, forming little bushes about high. Leaves are laxly spaced, linear-elliptic, quite smooth, and long...
  
  
• Monanthes brachycaulos
• Monanthes icterica
• Monanthes laxiflora
• Monanthes lowei
• Monanthes minima
• Monanthes muralis
  Monanthes muralis
  Monanthes muralis is a species in the genus Monanthes, forming small, succulent bushes with green flowers.- References :* T. H. M. Mes, G.-J. Wijer, and H. ‘t Hart, "Phylogenetic relationships in Monanthes based on morphological, chloroplast and nuclear DNA variation", J. evol. biol. IO 193-216.*...
  
  
• Monanthes pallens
• Monanthes polyphylla
  • Monanthes polyphylla amydros
  • Monanthes polyphylla polyphylla