Corsia Brassii

''Corsia'' is a little-studied plant genus from the monocotyledon family Corsiaceae. It was first described in 1877 by Italian naturalist Odoardo Beccari and contains 25 species, all of which lack chlorophyll and parasitize fungi for nutrition. All 25 species are distributed through New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands and Queensland, Australia.

Description

In terms of appearance, the species of ''Corsia'' are quite uniform except for the flowers.Paul Kores, David A. White, Leonard B. Thien: ''Chromosomes of Corsia (Corsiaceae)'', American Journal of Botany, Vol. 65, No. 5 (May - Jun., 1978), Page. 584-585, Chromosome counts are known only from two species: ''Corsia cornuta'' and ''C. clypeata''. Both have a diploid number (''2n'') of 18.

Habit

''Corsia'' exist largely underground; only the seldom-formed flower stems develop above ground. The fine, thread-like and hairless root system is weakly branched and whitish, spreading widely just beneath the surface. Several hairless, unbranched and upright flowering stems sprout from a rhizome and are visible above ground. They are usually reddish in color and are high. The xylem is woody and not perforated.

Leaves

The foliage along the stem is evenly distributed, and consists of three to seven broadly ovate pointed leaves. Those on the rhizomes are less developed than the reddish leaves on the flowering stems. Along the stem the leaves grow alternately, at their bases they sheath the stem almost entirely.

Flowers

The growth of ''Corsia'' flowers appears to be triggered by combination of rain and drought, usually by a prolonged rainy season followed by several dry days. The zygomorphic, trimerous, nodding flowers grow singly and are terminal on the stems. The tepals are colored pale red to brownish red, sometimes with a bit of pale yellow and rarely brownish-green.

The six tepals are approximately of the same shape and size, with the exception of the uppermost tepal, termed the labellum, which is considerably larger and usually heart-shaped. The tepals of the species of section ''Sessilis'' are long and wide. The tepals of the section ''Unguiculatis'' are long and wide. The labellum is about long and wide. The labellum encloses the floral bud until its opening, thereby protecting immature floral parts. The labellum is usually simple, but is occasionally bifurcated at the tip of the midrib.

The labellum of ''Corsia'' is similar in appearance to the labellum of some orchids, but is not homologous to them; in orchids the labellum is formed from an inner tepal (petal), but in Corsiaceae it forms from an outer tepal (sepal). In ''Corsia'', unlike the orchids, all six stamens are fertile.

Fruit and seeds

After pollination (possibly by flies), the peduncles extend and a long and slender cylindrical yellowish brown capsule fruit forms. The small dust-like seeds are about long, thick and colored pale to dark brown. The seed coat tightly encloses the endosperm and its surface is finely grooved longitudinally.J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz: ''Family Guide for Fruits and Seeds'', Vers. 1.0, 2006, Retrieved 26 March 2007
Online version
Although the native habitat of ''Corsia'' is relatively calm, seed dispersal is presumed to be facilitated by wind ( anemochory).C. Neinhuis, P. Ibisch: ''Corsiaceae'', in: K. Kubitzki (Hrsg.): ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, Vol. 3, Lilianae'', p. 200, 1998,

Distribution and habitat

Species of ''Corsia'' are generally found in floodplains and mountain forests at altitudes of above sea level. They grow in humus-rich soils in shaded areas of high humidity among decaying leaves.

The center of diversity for the genus is New Guinea. All species are endemic to New Guinea (including the Bismarck Archipelago), the Solomon Islands, and Australia.

Ecology

Like other members of Corsiaceae, ''Corsia'' species lack chlorophyll and are thus incapable of photosynthesis. Instead, they are myco-heterotrophs, relying exclusively on parasitizing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi for nutrition. Myco-heterotrophs were once mistakenly thought to be saprotrophic plants. It is now known that they do not obtain nourishment directly from decaying organic matter, instead they digest the hyphae of saprotrophic fungi with enzymes and absorb the resulting nutrients.

The host species of ''Corsia'', and whether ''Corsia'' are even host specific, remains unknown. ''Corsia'' are sometimes found growing in association with other myco-heterotrophic plants like '' Burmannia'', ''Sciaphila'', and '' Cotylanthera tenuis''.

Taxonomy

''Corsia'' is classified under the family Corsiaceae of the order Liliales. It is one of the three genera currently classified under Corsiaceae, the other two being '' Corsiopsis'' of China and '' Arachnitis'' of South America. It differs from the latter two in having several shoots arising from creeping rhizomes.

''Corsia'' was first described in 1877 by the Italian naturalist Odoardo Beccari from specimens from New Guinea. He named it after the Marquis Bardo Corsi Salviati. It was classified under Burmanniaceae by the English botanist George Bentham in 1883 and grouped together with orchids (family Orchidaceae).

In 1938, Fredrik Pieter Jonker separated ''Arachnitis'' and ''Corsia'' from Burmanniaceae based on their strongly zygomorphic floral characteristics. Kores ''et al.'' (1978) also separated ''Corsia'' from Burmanniaceae after comparing the chromosome numbers of ''C. cornuta'' and ''C. clypeata'' (''2n'' = 18) with the rest of Burmanniaceae (''2n''=32 to 136). Dahlgren & Clifford (1982) tentatively reclassified Corsiaceae as closer to lilies (order Liliales) than to orchids. Cribb ''et al.'' (1995) noted the significant differences between ''Corsia'' and the only other member of Corsiaceae then - ''Arachnitis''. In 1996, Ibisch ''et al.'' challenged the monophyly of Corsiaceae, positing that ''Arachnitis'' may actually be more closely related to Orchidaceae than ''Corsia'' and recommended the separation of the former into its own family, Arachnitaceae.

''Corsiopsis'' was discovered in 1999 by Zhang ''et al.'' and became the third genus included in the family Corsiaceae. Zhang also remarked that ''Corsiopsis'' seem to be more closely related to ''Corsia'' than to ''Arachnitis''. Based on phylogenetic studies and reexamination of previous morphological studies, Neyland & Hennigan (2003) concluded that ''Corsia'' is not closely related to ''Arachnitis''. The former probably has closer affinities with Campynemataceae of Liliales, while the latter may be more closely related to ''Thismia'' and/or ''Burmannia'' of Dioscoreales.P. F. Stevens (2001 onwards).
Liliales
. ''Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008''. Retrieved 30 December 2011. However, Chase ''et al.'' (2006) concluded that ''Arachnitis'' falls within Liliales while Rudall & Eastman (2002) puts ''Corsia'' closer to either Campynemataceae or ''Thismia''. As such, the taxonomic placement of ''Corsia'' and Corsiaceae remains problematic though they have been tentatively included in Liliales.

''Corsia'' contains two sections, ''Unguiculatis'' and ''Sessilis'', with 25 species. They are listed below along with their distribution ranges:

Section ''Unguiculatis'' P.Royen
*'' Corsia acuminata'' L.O.Williams (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia cornuta'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia purpurata'' L.O.Williams (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia triceratops'' P.Royen ( Yapen Island)
*'' Corsia unguiculata'' Schltr. (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia wiakabui'' (W.N.Takeuchi & Pipoly) D.L.Jones & B.Gray (southern New Ireland, Papua New Guinea)

Section ''Sessilis'' P.Royen
*''Corsia arfakensis'' Gibbs (Western New Guinea, including Yapen Island)
*''Corsia boridiensis'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea)
*'' Corsia brassii'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia clypeata'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia cordata'' Schltr. (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia crenata'' J.J.Sm. (Indonesia)
*''Corsia cyclopensis''P.Royen (Papua New Guinea and Indonesia)
*''Corsia dispar'' D.L.Jones & B.Gray (Herberton Range in Queensland, Australia)
*''Corsia haianjensis'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands)
*''Corsia huonensis'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia lamellata'' Schltr. (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia merimantaensis'' P.Royen (New Guinea)
*''Corsia ornata'' Becc. (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia papuana'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea)
*''Corsia pyramidata'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands)
*'' Corsia resiensis'' P.Royen (Western New Guinea)
*''Corsia torricellensis'' Schltr. (Northeast Papua New Guinea)
*'' Corsia viridopurpurea'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea)
*'' Corsia wubungu'' P.Royen (Papua New Guinea)

See also

*List of myco-heterotrophic genera

References

Bibliography

* P. Van Royen:''Sertulum Papuanum 17th Corsiaceae of New Guinea and surrounding areas'' in: Webbia 27: pp. 223–255, 1972,
* Traudel Rübsamen: '' Morphologische, embryologische und systematische Untersuchungen an Burmanniaceae und Corsiaceae (Mit Ausblick auf die Orchidaceae-Apostasioideae)'' orphological, embryological and systematic studies of Burmanniaceae and Corsiaceae (With view on the Orchidaceae-Apostasioideae) 1986,
* Karl Schumann, Karl Lauterbach: ''Nachträge zur Flora der deutschen Schutzgebiete in der Südsee mit Ausschluss Samoa's und der Karolinen'' upplements to Flora of the German protectorates in the Pacific to the exclusion of Samoa's and the Carolinas Leipzig, 1905
Online version
* R. Schlechter: ''Neue Corsiaceae Papuasiens'' ew Papuan Corsiaceae Parisiens in: Botanical yearbooks for systematics, plant geography and plant history, Vol. 49, pp. 109–112, 1913, Stuttgart
Online version
* Dian-Xiang Zhang, Richard M. K. Saunders, Chi-Ming Hu: ''Corsiopsis chinensis gen. et sp. nov. (Corsiaceae): First Record of the Family in Asia'', in: Systematic Botany, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1999), S. 311-314,
Abstract Online

*

{{Taxonbar, from=Q138314

Liliales genera
Corsiaceae
Parasitic plants
Parasites of fungi
Taxa named by Odoardo Beccari