''Galphimia'' is a genus in the

Malpighiaceae Malpighiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. It comprises about 73 genera and 1315 species, all of which are native to the tropics and subtropics. About 80% of the genera and 90% of the species occur in the New World ( ...

, a family of about 75 genera of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales; the name is an anagram of ''

Malpighia ''Malpighia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the nance family, Malpighiaceae. It contains about 45 species of shrubs or small trees, all of which are native to the American tropics. The generic name honours Marcello Malpighi, a 17th-centur ...

.'' ''Galphimia'' comprises 26 species of large herbs, shrubs, and treelets. Twenty-two species occur in Mexico, one ('' G. angustifolia'') extending into Texas and one ('' G. speciosa'') ranging to Nicaragua; four species ('' G. amambayensis'', '' G. australis'', '' G. brasiliensis'', '' G. platyphylla'') occur in South America, south of the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

. ''

Galphimia gracilis ''Galphimia gracilis'', a species in the genus '' Galphimia'' of the family Malpighiaceae, is native to eastern Mexico. It is widely cultivated in warm regions throughout the world, often under the common names gold shower or shower-of-gold, sl ...

'' is widely cultivated in warm regions throughout the world (but often confused with '' G. glauca'' and also '' G. brasiliensis''). Eight species (of Mexico and Central America) are distinctive in that the petals become stiff and papery, and persist past the stage of fruit maturation. ''Galphimia'' is sometimes confused with ''

Thryallis ''Thryallis'' is a genus in the family Malpighiaceae, of scandent shrubs and woody vines native to Brazil and adjacent Paraguay and Bolivia. At one time some species now assigned to '' Galphimia'', e.g., ''Galphimia gracilis'', were referred to ...

'', a different genus of

that occurs in Brazil and adjacent Paraguay and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. At one time some species now assigned to ''Galphimia'' were referred to ''Thryallis'', but the generic name ''Thryallis'' is now a

conserved name A conserved name or ''nomen conservandum'' (plural ''nomina conservanda'', abbreviated as ''nom. cons.'') is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules whic ...

according to the rules of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. The genus ''Thryallis'' is distinctive in the stellate hairs and scales found on the vegetative parts, and in that the limb of the petals is much wider than long, traits not found in ''Galphimia''. ;Species

External links and references

Malpighiaceae
- description, taxonomy, phylogeny, and nomenclature from the

University of Michigan Herbarium The University of Michigan Herbarium is the herbarium of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States. One of the most-extensive botanical collections in the world, the herbarium has some 1.7 million specimens of vascu ...

Galphimia
*Anderson, C. 2007. Revision of ''Galphimia'' (Malpighiaceae). Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium 25: 1–82. *Anderson, C. 1995. Revision of ''Thryallis'' (Malpighiaceae). Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium 20: 3–14. {{Taxonbar, from=Q5519320 Malpighiaceae Malpighiaceae genera Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles