''Degeneria'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...

. It is the only genus in the family Degeneriaceae. The

APG IV system The APG IV system of flowering plant classification is the fourth version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy for flowering plants (angiosperms) being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). It was published ...

of 2016 (unchanged from the

APG system The APG system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system) of plant classification is the first version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy. Published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, it was replaced by the improved A ...

of 1998, the

APG II system The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Gr ...

of 2003 and the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fu ...

of 2009), recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order

Magnoliales The Magnoliales are an order of flowering plants. Classification The Magnoliales include six families: * Annonaceae (custard apple family, over 2000 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas; mostly tropical but some temperate) * Degeneriaceae (two ...

in the clade

magnoliids Magnoliids (or Magnoliidae or Magnolianae) are a clade of flowering plants. With more than 10,000 species, including magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, tulip tree and many others, it is the third-largest group of a ...

. ''Degeneria'' was named after

Otto Degener Otto Degener (May 13, 1899 – January 16, 1988) was a botanist and conservationist who specialized in identifying plants of the Hawaiian Islands. Biography Degener was born May 13, 1899 in East Orange, New Jersey. Degener graduated from the Massa ...

, who first found ''D. vitiensis'' in 1942. Classical studies of native stands of ''Degeneria'' from Vanua Levu and Viti Levu islands were conducted more than 30 years ago. A 45-cent stamp issued in 1988 depicted a flowering branch of ''Degeneria vitiensis.'' This species appears on Fiji's five-dollar bill. A one-dollar 1988 philatelic commemorated the discovery of ''Degeneria roseiflora'' earlier in that same year. The genus contains two species of trees, both native to

: * '' Degeneria roseiflora'' John M.Mill. –

Vanua Levu Vanua Levu (pronounced ), formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of and a population of 135,961 . Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically ...

Taveuni Taveuni (pronounced ) is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated to the east of ...

– karawa * ''

Degeneria vitiensis ''Degeneria vitiensis'' is a flowering tree found on Viti Levu in Fiji. It is relatively common plant and is used as timber. It has been found in upland forests A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of fo ...

'' L.W.Bailey & A.C.Sm. –

Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian ...

– masiratu.

Floral structure

The stage-specific movements of floral organs, including scent emissions of degenerias studied by Miller in 1989, are remarkably similar to those observed in other Magnoliales.Pang, C.-C. and R. M. K. Saunders. 2015. Floral biology and pollination ecology of ''Desmos chinensis'' (Annonaceae): Assessing the efficacy of floral synchrony for promoting xenogamy. International Journal of Plant Sciences 176(4): 333–345 Further, the floral structure of ''Degeneria'' is unusual, considered to be primitive among the

s. The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the fila ...

s are similar to those in ''

Austrobaileya ''Austrobaileya'' is the sole genus consisting of a single species that constitutes the entire flowering plant family Austrobaileyaceae. The species ''Austrobaileya scandens'' grows naturally only in the Wet Tropics rainforests of northeast ...

'', '' Galbulimima'', and some

Magnoliaceae The Magnoliaceae () are a flowering plant family, the magnolia family, in the order Magnoliales. It consists of two genera: ''Magnolia'' and '' Liriodendron'' (tulip trees). Unlike most angiosperms, whose flower parts are in whorls (rings), t ...

; they do not have distinguishable anther, filament, and connective, but instead are leaf-like, with two pairs of microsporangia embedded in the surface. There are three veins, rather than the single vein in the stamen of most flowering plants. The

gynoecium Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) '' pist ...

develops in an unusual way, similar to

Winteraceae Winteraceae is a primitive family of tropical trees and shrubs including 93 species in five genera. It is of particular interest because it is such a primitive angiosperm family, distantly related to Magnoliaceae, though it has a much more s ...

, with laminal placentation, i.e., the young carpel is cup-shaped, and the

ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the '' integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the ...

s develop on its upper surface. The margins of the carpel never fully fuse. A cleft remains filled with hairs, through which the pollen tubes grow towards the ovules.

References

External links

Degeneriaceae
in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards).
The families of flowering plants
descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval.'' Version: 27 April 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20070103200438/http://delta-intkey.com/.

NCBI Taxonomy Browser

links at CSDL, Texas
Magnoliales Magnoliid genera Endemic flora of Fiji {{Magnoliales-stub