Gethyllidinae is a small

subtribe Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) or -inae (in plants Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plant ...

within the amaryllis family. It is within tribe

Haemantheae Haemantheae are a tribe of subfamily Amaryllidoideae (family Amaryllidaceae). They are herbaceous monocot perennial flowering plants with a predominantly African distribution. Three subtribes are proposed and six genera including the type genus, ...

, and therefore within the African

clades A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, t ...

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 ...

. It contains two

genera 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 nomenclat ...

, '' Gethyllis'' and ''

Apodolirion ''Apodolirion'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family ( Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae). It consists of 6 species distributed in South Africa. The name ''Apodolirion'' comes from the Greek an ...

'', both are

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 elsew ...

to southern Africa.

Description

''Gethyllis'' and ''Apodolirion'' are two unifloral genera with fused

spathe 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 ...

bracts that retain the

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

inside the

bulbs 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 durin ...

until the

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

matures. In both the scape remains inside the bulbs. The fruit is large, fleshy, and aromatic with many

seeds A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...

, and distinct from the rest of Haemantheae which have

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 ...

fruits with only a few seeds. These seeds are also small and hard, while the rest of Haemantheae have seeds that are larger, fleshy and water rich. The genera are also distinguished from each other by their

stigmata Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet. Stigm ...

. In ''Gethyllis'' this is capitate, while in ''Apodolirion'' it is

trifid Trifid is Latin for "split into three parts" or "threefold" and may refer to: * ''Trifid'' (journal), a Czech-language periodical *Trifid Nebula in the constellation Sagittarius *Trifid cipher, a fractionated cipher * Trifid (software), suite of m ...

. Also, ''Apodolirion'' has six

stamina Stamina may refer to: Biology and healthcare * Endurance, the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fat ...

while ''Gethyllis'' has many more, with some species having 18 or more.

Taxonomy

For the early taxonomic history of these two genera, see Meerow and Clayton (2004). ''Gethyllis'' was one of the two Hamantheae genera to be described (Linnaeus 1753), and in 1829 Dumortier placed it in a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

higher

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Gethyllideae, and hence is given as the

authority In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...

, a practice followed by

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

described ''Apodolirion'' in 1878, noting the close resemblance to Gethyllis.

Pax Pax or PAX may refer to: Peace * Peace (Latin: ''pax'') ** Pax (goddess), the Roman goddess of peace ** Pax, a truce term * Pax (liturgy), a salutation in Catholic and Lutheran religious services * Pax (liturgical object), an object formerly kiss ...

(1888) then placed both genera in his subtribe Zephyranthinae, as one of six genera, a practice followed by Hutchinson (1926), though at tribal rank. Traub recognised the distinct features of these two genera, for which he created the tribe Gethylleae in his 1963 monograph on the

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 ...

, based on the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal f ...

''Gethyllis''. He (amongst others) even expressed the idea that they might be a single genus. On the other hand, Dahlgren (1985) submerged them once again in Haemantheae. Subsequently, the Müller-Doblies' restored Gethyllidinae as a tribe. Later

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

research has shown that these two genera, while forming a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

subclade, is situated as one of three subtribes of Haemantheae, since forming a separate tribe renders Haemantheae

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

. Although the two genera are resolved in this process as distinct

sister groups In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

, the possibility that they may eventually be considered a single genus remains.

Phylogeny

The Gethyllidinae are placed within the Haemantheae as follows:

Genera

* ''

'' (~6 species) * '' Gethyllis'' (~35 species)

Distribution and habitat

''Gethyllis'' is found in winter rainfall regions of southern Africa, while ''Apodolirion'' is found in the summer rainfall zone.

References

Bibliography

* Volume 2:

Dicotyledon The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, t ...

ae 1934. * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q23015953 Amaryllidoideae Flora of Southern Africa Plant subtribes