Native Pigface
Overview:
The pigface has many other types of species, the one that lives in Australia is the Capobrotus Rossii pigface. It is a plant spreads about 2 meters, and the flower looks like a daisy 45 mm in diameter. They have purple petals and a white centre. The amazing fact about the pigface is that the scientific name for pigface, Capobrotus means "edible fruit" in Greek. The pigface plant can be eaten from the inside, the fruit is globular, about 20 mm diameter and a dull red colour. The fruit and leaves are edible. Pigface is used for shelters for many species, and provides food for birds. Used for valuable soil binding and ground-nesting for birds.
Habitat & Challenges:
The natural distribution of the Capobrotus Rossii (pigface) in Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria very common on coastal sandy or rocky grounds. Temperatures range from as low as -3 degrees Celsius up to 40 degrees, the pigface can only tolerate higher temperatures for short periods. Pigface prefers sub-tropical regions in coastal areas, open woodlands, sandy areas, cliffs and near roads. Pigface can tolerate fire and droughts, so it can survive without water, usually used to cover grounds. The aboitic factors of the Capobrotus Rossii is the environment humidity and the temperature of the pigface habitat as warm and wet climates offer best conditions for the plant to photosynthesis and plant growth.
Pigface Leaves: |
Pigface Fruit: |
Adaptions:
The Capobrotus Rossii has an amazing adaption which allows them to live in harsh conditions. As stated before, the pigface can survive fire and droughts, in the lack of fresh water, pigface is able to cope with harsh conditions because pigface has a thick waxy coating around its leaves called "cuticle". The cuticle reduces the amount of water loss the moisture from the leaf surface. The pigface's leaf size and thickness are other adaptions, although the plant's leaves are small, they also have a small surface area because it is triangle shaped, which means that less of the leaf is exposed to the sun.
The plant has stiff leaves and stems which enable the plants to tolerate strong winds. The root system allows the pigface to stay in the sand, the roots form a dense mat that helps retain soil moisture.
The plant has stiff leaves and stems which enable the plants to tolerate strong winds. The root system allows the pigface to stay in the sand, the roots form a dense mat that helps retain soil moisture.