''Gasteranthus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of 35 species of

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s and soft-stemmed

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

s in the

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 th ...

family

Gesneriaceae Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World (almost all Didymocarpoideae) and the New World (most Gesnerioideae), with ...

. The species occur in

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. ...

and

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 southe ...

, from southernmost

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 ...

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 ...

.Weber & Skog (2007) Numerous species are threatened with

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

ion, mainly due to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. This is due to two reasons: For one thing, ''Gasteranthus'' species are native to countries in which destruction of

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

runs rampant; also, these plants do not distribute well and therefore

endemism 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 elsew ...

is very frequent, for example on isolated mountain ranges. These plants inhabit

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

and

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

. They grow in

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depen ...

, shaded locations at altitudes of up to 1,800 m

ASL American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

. The flowers are usually colored in orange hues and often spotted, but background colors also include shades white, yellow and red. They are born in axillary

cymes An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed on ...

without

bracteole In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. ''Gasteranthus'' was previously included in the closely related genus ''

Besleria ''Besleria'' is a genus of ca. 200 species of large herbs and soft-stemmed subshrubs or shrubs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. They occur in Central America, South America, and the West Indies. The closely related genus ''Gasteranthu ...

''. The two genera have been separated on the basis of differences in their

stomata In botany, a stoma (from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth", plural "stomata"), also called a stomate (plural "stomates"), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange. The pore is bor ...

(aggregated in ''Gasteranthus'', scattered in ''Besleria'') and fruits (fleshy capsule in ''Gasteranthus'',

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

in ''Besleria''). Characteristic are the whitish dots on the leaf undersides caused by aggregations of stomata in ''Gasteranthus''.Wiehler (1975), Skog & Kvist (2000), Weber & Skog (2007) Two main groups can be distinguished in this genus: one group of species, with white to yellow, bell- or tube-shaped flowers, is probably

pollinate Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, a ...

d mainly by euglossine bees. The other group has bright orange or red hypocyrtoid (inflated corolla tube with very small opening) flowers and are apparently pollinated mainly by

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 ...

Selected species

* '' Gasteranthus atratus'' * '' Gasteranthus bilsaensis'' * '' Gasteranthus carinatus'' * '' Gasteranthus corallinus'' * '' Gasteranthus crispus'' * '' Gasteranthus delphinioides'' * ''

Gasteranthus extinctus ''Gasteranthus extinctus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The species is a small herb that produces bright orange flowers ...

'' * '' Gasteranthus imbaburensis'' * '' Gasteranthus lateralis'' * '' Gasteranthus macrocalyx'' * '' Gasteranthus mutabilis'' * '' Gasteranthus orientandinus'' * '' Gasteranthus otongensis'' * '' Gasteranthus perennis'' * '' Gasteranthus quitensis'' * '' Gasteranthus tenellus'' * '' Gasteranthus ternatus'' * '' Gasteranthus timidus'' * '' Gasteranthus trifoliatus'' * '' Gasteranthus wendlandianus''

Footnotes

References

* (1991): Biological extinction in western Ecuador. '' Ann. MO Bot. Gard.'' 78(2): 273–295. * (2000): Revision of ''Gasteranthus'' (Gesneriaceae). ''Systematic Botany Monographs'' 59: 1–118. * (2007)
''Gasteranthus''
''In:'
The genera of Gesneriaceae. Basic information with illustration of selected species
(2nd ed.). Version of 2007-JAN-05. Retrieved 2007-SEP-20. * (1975): ''Besleria'' L. and the re-establishment of ''Gasteranthus'' Benth. (Gesneriaceae). ''Selbyana'' 1(2): 150–156. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2408609 Gesneriaceae genera