''Heliosperma'' is a genus of

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

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...

. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''

Silene ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority of the species are narrow

endemics 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 else ...

from the Balkan Peninsula, but '' H. alpestre'' is endemic to the

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in t ...

, and '' H. pusillum'' is found from the in northern Spain to the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

. Like members of the genus ''Silene'' and other related genera, ''Heliosperma'' is attacked by species of the anther smut fungus '' Microbotryum''. Cases of parallel divergence events between alpine and mountain populations have been reported in this genus.

Species

Around 15 species are currently recognised in the genus: *''

Heliosperma albanicum ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' K.Malý *''

Heliosperma alpestre ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' Rchb. – Eastern Alps *''

Heliosperma chromodontum ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' Rohrb. – Greece *''

Heliosperma insulare ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' Trinajstić – Croatia *''

Heliosperma intonsum ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' (Greuter & Melzh.) Niketić & Stevan. – Greece *''

Heliosperma macranthum ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' Pančić *''

Heliosperma monachorum ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' Vis. & Pančić *''

Heliosperma nikolicii ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' (A.Seliger & Wraber) Niketić & Stevan. – Kosovo *''

Heliosperma oliverae ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' Niketić & Stevan. – Montenegro *''

Heliosperma pudibundum ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' Griseb. *''

Heliosperma pusillum ''Heliosperma pusillum'' is a species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyll ...

'' Vis. – NW Spain, Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians *'' Heliosperma retzdorffianum'' Maly – Bosnia and Herzegovina *'' Heliosperma tommasinii'' Vis. – Montenegro, Albania *'' Heliosperma vandasii'' Neumayer – Macedonia *'' Heliosperma veselskyi'' Janka – Slovenia

References

External links

* * Caryophyllaceae genera Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach {{Caryophyllaceae-stub

Species

References

Further reading

External links