{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Kalidium caspicum.jpg |image_caption = ''Kalidium caspicum'' |taxon = Kalidium |authority = Moq. |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = 6 species, see text }}
'''''Kalidium''''' is a genus of flowering plants in the plant family Amaranthaceae. The species are shrubby halophytes distributed in Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia and Central Asia to China.
== Description == The species of ''Kalidium'' grow as subshrubs or low shrubs. The stems are much branched and glabrous. Older stems are not jointed, younger stems may appear jointed or not. The alternate leaves are fleshy, glabrous, stem-clasping and decurrent, nearly orbicular to semiterete, their free blades 0.5–12 mm long.<ref name="Kadereit" />
The pedunculate inflorescences are spike-like, with alternate scale-like free bracts. In the axil of each bract, there are one to three flowers, partially fused to each other, to the bract and to the inflorescence axis, appearing sunken into fleshy axis. The flowers are bisexual. The 4-5-lobed perianth consists of four to five connate tepals. There are two stamens<ref name="Kadereit" /> and an ovoid ovary with two stigmas.<ref name="Zhu" />
In fruiting phase, the perianth becomes thick and spongy and encloses the fruit. Towards the apex, the perianth is widened, flattened, and furnished with a wing-like margin. The fruit wall (pericarp) is membranous. The vertical seed is disc-shaped with tuberculate to papillose surface. It contains a semi-annular embryo and copious perisperm (feeding tissue).<ref name="Kadereit" />
== Distribution and habitat == The species of ''Kalidium'' are distributed from Southeast Europe to Southwest Asia and Central Asia to China.<ref name="Kadereit" /><ref name="Zhu" />
The plants are halophytes and grow in saline mudflats, on alkaline soils, at margins of alluvial fans, and at the shores of salt lakes.<ref name="Zhu" />
== Systematics == The genus ''Kalidium'' was first published in 1849 by Alfred Moquin-Tandon.<ref name="Moquin" /> ''Kalidium foliatum'' was chosen as lectotype of the genus.<ref name="tropicos" /> A synonym is ''Kalidiopsis'' <small>Aellen</small>.<ref name="Kadereit" />
The genus comprises six species:<ref name="Kadereit" /> * ''Kalidium caspicum'' <small>(L.) Ung.-Sternb.</small> - widely distributed from Southeast Europe, Caucasus and eastern Turkey, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia to China (northern Xinjiang).<ref name="Zhu" /><ref name="Piirainen" /> * ''Kalidium cuspidatum'' <small>(Ung.-Sternb.) Grubov</small> - occurring in Mongolia and China (Gansu, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Xinjiang).<ref name="Zhu" /> * ''Kalidium foliatum'' (<small>Pall.) Moq.</small> - widely distributed from Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, Central Asia, Russia (southern Siberia), Mongolia, to China (northern Gansu, northern Hebei, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang).<ref name="Zhu" /><ref name="Piirainen" /> * ''Kalidium gracile'' <small>Fenzl</small> - occurring in Mongolia and China (Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang).<ref name="Zhu" /> * ''Kalidium schrenkianum'' <small>Bunge ex Ung.-Sternb.</small> - occurring in Kazakhstan and China (Xinjiang).<ref name="Zhu" /> * ''Kalidium wagenitzii'' <small>(Aellen) Freitag & G.Kadereit</small> (Syn.: ''Kalidiopsis wagenitzii'' <small>Aellen</small>) - endemic in Turkey (Anatolia, Tuz Gölü area).<ref name="Kadereit" /> This species has sometimes been included in ''Kalidium foliatum''.<ref name="Piirainen" />
== References == <references> <ref name="Kadereit">Gudrun Kadereit, Ladislav Mucina & Helmut Freitag: ''Phylogeny of Salicornioideae (Chenopodiaceae): diversification, biogeography, and evolutionary trends in leaf and flower morphology'', In: ''Taxon'', Volume 55 (3), 2006, p. 623-624, 631-632.</ref> <ref name="Moquin">Alfred Moquin-Tandon: ''Salsolaceae''. in: De Candolle (Hrsg.): ''Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis'' 13(2). Masson, Paris, 1849, p. 146. ([https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/159047#page/152/mode/1up first publication scanned at BHL])</ref> <ref name="Piirainen">Mikko Piirainen 2009: [http://ww2.bgbm.org/euroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=17962&PTRefFk=7300000 ''Kalidium.'' In: P. Uotila, (ed.): ''Chenopodiaceae.'' In: ''Euro+Med Plantbase - the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity.'']</ref> <ref name="tropicos">{{Tropicos|40034380|Kalidium|||accessdate=2016-08-01}}</ref> <ref name="Zhu">Gelin Zhu, Sergei L. Mosyakin, Steven E. Clemants: [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=116926 ''Kalidium.''] In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (eds.): ''Flora of China''. Volume 5: ''Ulmaceae through Basellaceae''. Science Press/Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing/St. Louis 2003, {{ISBN|1-930723-27-X}}, p. 355.</ref> </references>
== External links == *{{Commons category-inline|Kalidium|''Kalidium''}} *{{Wikispecies-inline|Kalidium|''Kalidium''}} * [http://greif.uni-greifswald.de/floragreif/taxon/?gr1=&gr2=&ord=&subfam=&tr=&sec=&fam=&gen=kalidium&spec=&show=all&coll=&det=&teste=&collno=&herb=&phen=&loc=&hab=&flora_search=Image Photos of ''Kalidium''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817040739/http://greif.uni-greifswald.de/floragreif/taxon/?gr1=&gr2=&ord=&subfam=&tr=&sec=&fam=&gen=kalidium&spec=&show=all&coll=&det=&teste=&collno=&herb=&phen=&loc=&hab=&flora_search=Image |date=2016-08-17 }} at FloraGREIF, the Virtual Guide to the Flora of Mongolia.
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Category:Amaranthaceae Category:Amaranthaceae genera