''Erechtites'' is a genus of flowering plants in the
daisy family known commonly as fireweeds or burnweeds. They are native to the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
and
Australia,
but some species are widely distributed weeds.
Description
''Erechtites'' consists of
annual
Annual may refer to:
*Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year
** Yearbook
** Literary annual
*Annual plant
*Annual report
*Annual giving
*Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco
*Annuals (band), ...
or
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...
herbs with large
taproots and very often with a pungent odor. Leaves are usually
ovate or lanceolate (sometimes
pinnately lobed or pinnatifid).
Flower heads may sometimes contain as many as 100 yellow or white (rarely pink) disc florets but no
ray florets
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...
.
Taxonomy and species
Some species in this genus are treated as members of ''
Senecio
''Senecio'' is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae) that includes ragworts and groundsels.
Variously circumscribed taxonomically, the genus ''Senecio'' is one of the largest genera of flowering plants.
Description
Mor ...
'' by some authors, and several other species are considered variants of ''
Erechtites hieraciifolius'', so there may be as few as 5 distinct species in this genus. In particular, not all authors agree on whether to include a dozen or so species native to
Australia and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in ''Erechtites''.
;Species
27 species are recognised by Plants of the World Online
*''
Erechtites apargiifolius'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites atkinsoniae'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites bathurstianus'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites bukaensis'' -
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...
*''
Erechtites diversifolius'' -
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
*''
Erechtites glabrescens'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites glomeratus'' -
Australia,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
*''
Erechtites glossanthus'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites goyazensis'' -
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
*''
Erechtites gunnii'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites hieraciifolius'' -
North America,
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
,
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
; introduced in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
*''
Erechtites hispidulus'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites ignobilis'' -
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
*''
Erechtites kermadecensis'' -
Kermadec Islands
The Kermadec Islands ( mi, Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean northeast of New Zealand's North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand. They are in total ar ...
*''
Erechtites laceratus'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites leptanthus'' -
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
*''
Erechtites minimus'' -
Australia,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
*''
Erechtites missionum'' -
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
*''
Erechtites petiolatus'' -
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
*''
Erechtites picridioides'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites quadridentatus'' -
Australia,
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
*''
Erechtites runcinatus'' -
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
*''
Erechtites scaberulus'' -
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
*''
Erechtites sonchoides'' -
Australia,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
*''
Erechtites tenuiflorus'' -
Australia
*''
Erechtites valerianifolius'' -
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
,
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
*''
Erechtites wairauensis'' -
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
Alternatively, a more limited genus circumscription restricts the genus to New World species and only recognises six species in two sections:
* ''Erechtites'' sect. ''Erechtites''
** ''Erechtites hieracifolius''
** ''Erechtites missionis''
** ''Erechtites valerianifolius''
** ''Erechtites petiolatus''
* ''Erechtites'' sect. ''Goyazenses'' Belcher
** ''Erechtites goyazensis''
** ''Erechtites ignobilis''
The genus name ''Erechtites'' is considered
masculine by some botanists and
feminine by others. Hence some species names may end in "-us" or "-a," for example, ''
Erechtites valerianifolius'' versus ''E. valerianifolia.'' International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Art. 62.4) specifies that generic names ending in "-ites" are to be treated as masculine, hence the "-us" ending in such cases is to be preferred over the "-a" ending.
article 62.4
References
External links
USDA Plants Profile
Senecioneae
Asteraceae genera
{{Senecioneae-stub