''Distephanus'' 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 ...

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 ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Asteraceae 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 ...

.Harold E. Robinson. 2007. "Vernonieae" pages 149-174. In: Klaus Kubitzki (series editor); Joachim W. Kadereit and Charles Jeffrey (volume editors). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume VIII. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. It is described by American botanist

Harold E. Robinson Harold Ernest Robinson (May 22, 1932 – December 17, 2020) was an American botanist and entomologist. Career Robinson's specialty was the sunflower family (Asteraceae) and the bryophytes. He has named or described over 2,800 new species and ...

as having over 40 species and by David Mabberley as having only 34 species.David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. These sources differ sharply in their description of the

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

of the genus. Robinson has it ranging throughout

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and occurring also in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Mabberley has it restricted to southeast Africa,

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, and

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. The genus ''Distephanus'' consists of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s, and

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

s. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are often trinervate. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are in

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devic ...

inflorescence 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 o ...

s and are usually yellow. The

anther 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 filam ...

s have an appendage called a tail. The base of the style is enlarged. The

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

''Distephanus'' is derived from Greek and means "two crowns", a reference to the two

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral d ...

of bristles that form the pappus.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume II:822. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, USA. London, UK. . (vol. 2). (see ''External links'' below). The genus ''Distephanus'' was established by

Alexandre de Cassini Count Alexandre Henri Gabriel de Cassini (9 May 1781 – 23 April 1832) was a French botanist and naturalist, who specialised in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) (then known as family Compositae). He was the youngest of five children of Jacque ...

in 1817.Alexandre H.G. de Cassini. 1817. ''Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomatique de Paris''. (1817):151. Cassini described the type species, ''Distephanus populifolia'' in 1819.Alexandre H.G. de Cassini. 1819. ''Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, ··· Strasbourg. edition 2. (F. Cuvier).'' 19:361. This species had originally been named ''Conyza populifolia'' by

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...

in 1786.Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. 1786. ''Encyclopedie Methodique. Botanique ··· Paris''. 2(1):87. ''Distephanus'' has usually been placed in the tribe Vernonieae, but the results of some

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 ...

studies of

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

s have cast doubt upon this placement. In one

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

of Asteraceae, it was placed in a tritomy consisting of ''Distephanus'', Moquinieae, and Vernonieae.Vicki A. Funk, Alfonso Susanna, Tod F. Stuessy, and Randall J. Bayer. 2009. ''Systematics, Evolution and Biogeography of the Compositae''. IAPT (International Association for Plant Taxonomy). (see ''External links'' below). ''Distephanus'' differs from (other) genera in Vernonieae in having yellow flowers as well as in other characters that are less obvious.Harold E. Robinson. 1986. "Trinervate leaves, yellow flowers, tailed anthers, and pollen variation in ''Distephanus'' Cassini (Vernonieae: Asteraceae)". ''Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington'' 99(3):493-501.

Species

Species include:

References

External links

''Distephanus''
At:Index Nominum Genericorum
At:
At:
At:Research and Collections
At:Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Classification (compositae book, chapter 11
At:The International Compositae Alliance

CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: D-L
At:Botany & Plant Science
At:Life Science
At:CRC Press
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5234174 Asteraceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot