Colpias
{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Colpias mollis 3.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = LC
| status_system = SANBI
| status_ref = {{cite web | title=SANBI Red List of South African Plants | website=South African National Biodiversity Institute Threatened Species Programme | url=http://redlist.sanbi.org/species.php?species=1120-1 | access-date=2022-04-15 }}
| display_parents = 2
| genus = Colpias
| parent_authority = E.Mey. ex Benth.Compan. Bot. Mag. 2: 53 (1836)
| species = mollis
| authority = E.Mey. ex Benth.
}}
Colpias is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae. It has only one currently accepted species, Colpias mollis, native to South Africa.{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:37549-1 |title=Colpias E.Mey. ex Benth. |author= |date=2017 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=25 September 2020 }} It secretes oils to attract specialised oil-collecting bees from the genus Rediviva.{{Cite journal |jstor = 2097136 |title = The Ecology of Oil Flowers and their Bees |last1 = Buchmann |first1 = Stephen L. |journal = Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics |year = 1987 |volume = 18 |pages = 343–369 |doi = 10.1146/annurev.es.18.110187.002015 }} It is also known by the name klipblom, meaning stone plant in Afrikaans.{{Cite web |title=Colpias mollis {{!}} PlantZAfrica |url=http://pza.sanbi.org/colpias-mollis |access-date=2022-04-15 |website=pza.sanbi.org}}
Description
Colpias mollis is a many-branched shrublet, with brittle branches, growing up to 200 mm high. The leaves and branches of Colpias mollis are covered with soft hairs. During spring the small plants produce showy clusters of white or yellow flowers with a sweet or clove-like scent. It is confined to rock crevices, mostly in granite.
Colpias mollis 1.jpg
Colpias mollis 2.jpg
Distribution
Colpias mollis is endemic to the Northern Cape. It is found from the Richtersveld to near Kamieskroon, Namaqualand and the Bokkeveld Mountains.{{Cite web |title=Colpias mollis E.Mey. ex Benth. |url=http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000615194#citation2 |access-date=2022-04-15 |website=www.worldfloraonline.org}}
Conservation status
References
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{{Taxonbar|from1=Q8460349|from2=Q15593817}}
Category:Scrophulariaceae genera
Category:Monotypic Lamiales genera