''Eucrosia'' is a genus of

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

, perennial and

bulbous plants Bulb or Bulbs may refer to: Common uses * Bulb, a food-storage structure within some plants ** Ornamental bulb, a kind of perennial plant * Light bulb, an electric lamp Maritime * Bulb keel, a type of keel * Bulbous bow, a part that sticks ou ...

in the Amaryllis family (

Amaryllidaceae The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous (rarely rhizomatous) flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus ''Amaryllis'' and is commonly known as the amaryllis fa ...

, subfamily

Amaryllidoideae Amaryllidoideae (Amaryllidaceae ''s.s.'', amaryllids) is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, order Asparagales. The most recent APG classification, APG III, takes a broad view of the Amaryllidaceae, which then ...

) distributed from Ecuador to Peru. The name is derived from the Greek , beautiful, and , a fringe, referring to the long stamens. The genus contains eight species. ''

Phaedranassa ''Phaedranassa'' is a genus of South American and Central American plants in Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae.

'' and ''

Rauhia ''Rauhia'' is a genus of Peruvian plants in the Amaryllidaceae, Amaryllis family. ;Species *''Rauhia decora'' Ravenna - Perú (Amazonas Region, Amazonas) *''Rauhia multiflora'' (Kunth) Ravenna - Perú (Cajamarca Region, Cajamarca) *''Rauhia occi ...

'' are the genera most closely related to ''Eucrosia''.

Description

All the members of the genus are

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

ous. The leaves are deciduous, with characteristic long petioles and elliptical or ovate blades (laminae), up to 25 cm wide; they may or may not be present when the flowers are produced. The inflorescence is an umbel of 6–30 weakly to strongly zygomorphic flowers, tubular at the base, green, yellow or red in colour. 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 filame ...

s hang downwards (i.e. are declinate) and have long filaments which in most species form a cup containing nectaries at the base. The flowers are assumed to be adapted for butterfly pollination, although there is one report of a

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

visiting ''E. eucrosioides''. The fruit is a capsule with three

locule A locule (plural locules) or loculus (plural loculi) (meaning "little place" in Latin) is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism (animal, plant, or fungus). In angiosperms (flowering plants), the term ''locule'' usu ...

s; the seeds are flattened and winged. The diploid chromosome number is most commonly 2''n''=46.

Species

, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepted seven species of ''Eucrosia'': *''

Eucrosia aurantiaca ''Eucrosia aurantiaca'' is a species of plant which is Endemism, endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss. It grows from bulbs 1 ...

'' (Baker) Traub – Southern central Ecuador *''

Eucrosia bicolor ''Eucrosia bicolor'' is a species of plant found in Ecuador and Peru. Its natural habitats are seasonally dry lowland areas. It was the first species of ''Eucrosia'' to be scientifically described, in 1817, and the first to be introduced int ...

'' Ker Gawl. – Ecuador to Peru *''

Eucrosia calendulina ''Eucrosia calendulina'' is a species of plant that is endemic to Peru. All members of the genus ''Eucrosia'' grow from bulbs and have stalked (petiolate) leaves with wide blades (laminae). The zygomorphic flowers are produced in an umbel. ...

Meerow Alan W. Meerow is an American botanist, born in New York City in 1952. He specializes in the taxonomy of the family Amaryllidaceae and the horticulture of palms and tropical ornamental plants. He also works on the population genetics and mole ...

& Sagást. – Peru *''

Eucrosia dodsonii ''Eucrosia dodsonii'' is a species of plant that is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. It grows from bulbs 2.5–5 cm in diameter. The stalked ( ...

'' Meerow & Dehgan – Ecuador *''

Eucrosia eucrosioides ''Eucrosia eucrosioides'' is a species of plant that is found in south west Ecuador and north Peru. Its natural habitats are seasonally dry lowland areas. It grows from bulbs 3–4 cm in diameter. The stalked (petiolate) leaves are gl ...

'' (Herb.) Pax – South western Ecuador to Northern Peru *''

Eucrosia mirabilis ''Eucrosia mirabilis'' is a species of plant from Ecuador. In the original scientific description in 1869, it was believed to be from Peru, but there is little evidence it ever grew there. The plant disappeared from cultivation until it was f ...

'' (Baker) Traub – Peru, Ecuador *''

Eucrosia stricklandii ''Eucrosia stricklandii'' is a species of plant which is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss. It grows from bulbs aro ...

'' (Baker) Meerow – Ecuador A formerly accepted species has been moved to the genus ''

Stenomesson ''Stenomesson'' is a genus of bulbous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. All the species are native to western South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and northern Chile).Meerow, Alan W. 2000. Phylogeny of the American Amaryllidaceae based on nr ...

'': *''Eucrosia tubiflora'' Meerow = ''

Stenomesson tubiflorum ''Stenomesson tubiflorum'' is a species of plant which is endemic to Peru. ''S. tubiflorum'', which was scientifically named in 1985 as ''Eucrosia tubiflora'', is known only from the type collection in the Marañón basin, an area which had not ...

'' (Meerow) Meerow

Distribution and habitat

''Eucrosia'' is restricted to the central Andes of Ecuador and Peru. All of the species are found only in small areas or as small numbers of individuals. Three species are endemic to Ecuador, two to Peru. Three further species are only occasionally found in Peru, being primarily distributed in Ecuador. All but one species of ''Eucrosia'' are adapted to seasonally dry habitats, found on the lower, Pacific-facing slopes of the Andes and the adjacent lowlands. The exception is ''E. dodsonii'', which grows in the understory of montane rainforest.

Cultivation

In cultivation, all species except the rainforest dweller ''E. dobsonii'' can be grown in pots in gritty soil in good light, being kept warm and dry when the leaves wither, and watered when the flowers or leaves begin to grow again. ''E. dobsonii'' needs shadier conditions and a more open growing medium. Only ''E. bicolor'' is widely grown.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Images of ''Eucrosia'' species
fro
The International Bulb Society website
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5406295 Amaryllidaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot