''Lasianthus'' is a

genus 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 nom ...

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 t ...

s in the

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

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules a ...

. They are

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 ...

subshrubs,

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 tree ...

s, or rarely, small

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 ...

s. They inhabit the

understory In forestry and ecology, understory (American English), or understorey (Commonwealth English), also known as underbrush or undergrowth, includes plant life growing beneath the forest canopy without penetrating it to any great extent, but abo ...

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 feature ...

s. ''Lasianthus'' has about 180

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...

for the genus is '' Lasianthus cyanocarpus''. ''Lasianthus'' In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In:

Regnum Vegetabile The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and ...

(see ''External links'' below). In 2012, a

revision Revision is the process of revising. More specifically, it may refer to: * Update, a modification of software or a database * Revision control, the management of changes to sets of computer files * ''ReVisions'', a 2004 anthology of alternate hi ...

of ''Lasianthus'' in

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

described 131 species.Hua Zhu, Marco C. Roos, and Colin E. Ridsdale. 2012. "A taxonomic revision of the Malesian species of ''Lasianthus'' (Rubiaceae)". ''Blumea'' 57(1):1-102. Another 30 or so species grow elsewhere in

tropical Asia Tropical Asia refers to the entirety of the areas in Asia with a tropical climate. These areas are of geographic and economic importance due to their natural resources and biodiversity, which include many species of agricultural value. There are ...

.Debendra B. Deb and Mohan G. Gagnopadhyay. 1991. "Taxonomic study of the genus ''Lasianthus'' Jack (Rubiaceae) in India". ''Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany'' 15(2):265-308. Most of these are described in

Flora of China The flora of China consists of a diverse range of plant species including over 39,000 vascular plants, 27,000 species of fungi and 3000 species of bryophytes.Wu, Z. Y., P. H. Raven & D. Y. Hong, eds. 2006. Flora of China. Vol. 22 (Poaceae). Sc ...

Hua Zhu and Charlotte M. Taylor. 2011. ''Lasianthus'', pages 185-198. In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, and Hong Deyuan (editors). 1994 onward. ''Flora of China'', vol. 19: Cucurbitaceae - Valerianaceae, with Annonaceae and Berberidaceae. Science Press: Beijing, China; and Missouri Botanical Garden Press: St. Louis, MO, USA. (vol. 19) (set). (See ''External links'' below). or in ''

A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

''.Colin E. Ridsdale. 1998. Rubiaceae, pages 141-343. In: Meliyasena D. Dassanayake and William D. Clayton (editors). ''A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon'', vol. 12. (vol.12) (See ''External links'' below). Fifteen speciesDavid J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. or perhaps as many as 20 speciesBernard Verdcourt. 1976. ''Lasianthus''. pages 134-145. In: Rubiaceae (part 1). In: Roger M. Polhill (editor). ''Flora of Tropical East Africa''. Agents for Oversea (sic) Governments and Administration. London, U.K. (See ''External links'' below). are known from

tropical Africa Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the tropi ...

. Two species (''Lasianthus panamensis'' and ''Lasianthus lanceolatus''),Elmar Robbrecht. 1982. "The identity of the Panamanian genus ''Dressleriopsis'' (Rubiaceae)". ''Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden'' 69(2):427-429. or possibly three, are

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to the

neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

. ''Lasianthus strigosus'', from

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, is the only species known from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The Australian ''

Ixora baileyana ''Ixora'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is the only genus in the tribe Ixoreae. It consists of tropical evergreen trees and shrubs and holds around 544 species. Though native to the tropical and subtropical areas ...

'' had at one time been placed in ''Lasianthus'' as ''Lasianthus graciliflorus''.Laurie G. Adams, Diane M. Bridson, and Elmar Robbrecht. 1987. "The Identity of ''Lasianthus graciliflorus'' Bailey (Rubiaceae)". ''Kew Bulletin'' 42(1):209-214. Dried

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

s of ''Lasianthus'' often shed their flowers and fruit. For this reason, misidentification is common, even in

herbaria A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

. 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 ...

''Lasianthus'' has been misapplied to ''

Lisianthius ''Lisianthius'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Gentianaceae. Its native range is Mexico to Colombia, Caribbean. Species: *''Lisianthius adamsii'' *''Lisianthius aurantiacus'' *''Lisianthius auratus'' *''Lisianthius ...

'' (also spelled as "''Lisianthus''" or "''Lisyanthus''"Lena Struwe. undated. Gentian Research Network (website). (See ''External links'' below0.), a genus in

Gentianaceae Gentianaceae is a family of flowering plants of 103 genera and about 1600 species. Etymology The family takes its name from the genus '' Gentiana'', named after the Illyrian king Gentius. Distribution Distribution is cosmopolitan. Characteri ...

. ''Lasianthus alatus'' Aublet is a misspelling of ''Lisyanthus alatus'' Aublet, a species now placed in '' Chelonanthus''.

Species

''Lasianthus'' contains the following species. This list may be incomplete or contain

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

. All species mentioned in the article are listed here.

Description

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, or rarely, small

s. -

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 ...

opposite,

distichous In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature. Leaf arrangement The basic arrangements of leaves on a stem are opposite and alternat ...

Stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s interpetiolar, usually

persistent Persistent may refer to: * Persistent data * Persistent data structure * Persistent identifier * Persistent memory * Persistent organic pollutant * Persistent Systems, a technology company * USS ''Persistent'', three United States Navy ships See ...

. -

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 ...

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

lary, usually

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

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 small,

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

. - Calyx with 3 to 6 teeth or lobes; persistent. Corolla with 4 to 6 lobes; throat usually

villous Villus ( la, "shaggy hair", plural villi) may refer to: * Intestinal villus, refers to any one of the small, finger-shaped outgrowths of the epithelial lining of the wall of the intestine. Clusters of projections are referred as intestinal villi. ...

. -

Stamen 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 filame ...

s 4 to 6, inserted on corolla throat.

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 dorsifixed. - Stigma with

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

linear Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship (''function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear r ...

lobes.

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. ...

multilocular. -

Ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...

s basal, erect, 1 per locule. -

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 ...

a small

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

, usually

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

Pyrenes Pyrene is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) consisting of four fused benzene rings, resulting in a flat aromatic system. The chemical formula is . This yellow solid is the smallest peri-fused PAH (one where the rings are fused through mor ...

with thick walls.

History

The generic name ''Lasianthus'' is

derived Derive may refer to: * Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments * ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism *Dérive, a psychogeographical concept See also * *Derivation (disambiguatio ...

from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''lasios'', "shaggy, velvety, hairy", and ''anthos'', "flower".Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume II. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington,DC;, USA. London, UK. (vol. II). (see ''External links'' below). The genus was named by William Jack in 1823.''Lasianthus'' in International Plant Names Index. (see ''External links'' below).William Jack. !823. ''Transactions of the Linnean Society of London'' 14:125. (See ''External links'' below). Some authors have recognized ''Dressleriopsis'' and '' Litosanthes'' as genera separate from ''Lasianthus''. ''Dressleriopsis'' was sunk into ''Lasianthus'' in 1982. ''Litosanthes'' was erected by

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796, Braunschweig – 3 February 1862, Leiden) was a German-Dutch botanist. He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life wor ...

in 1823. It was synonymized under ''Lasianthus'' in 1992.Mohan G. Gagnopadhyay and T. Chakrabarty. 1992. "A note on the status of ''Litosanthes'' Bl. (Rubiaceae)". ''Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany'' 16(2):337-338.

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 ...

analysis has not resolved the question of whether ''Litosanthes'' is nested within ''Lasianthus'' or separate from it.

Affinities

''Lasianthus'', '' Saldinia'', and '' Trichostachys'' form the

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 ...

Lasiantheae in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Rubioideae Rubioideae Juss., 1789 is a subfamily of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 7600 species in 27 tribes. Tribes * Anthospermeae Cham. & Schltdl. ex DC. * Argostemmateae Bremek. ex Verdc. * Clarkelleae Deb * Co ...

. ''

Perama Perama ( el, Πέραμα) is a suburb of Piraeus. It is part of Athens urban area and belogs to the Piraeus regional unit. It lies on the southwest edge of the Aegaleo mountains, on the Saronic Gulf coast. It is 8 km northwest of Piraeus, ...

'' is

related ''Related'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from October 5, 2005, to March 20, 2006. It revolves around the lives of four close-knit sisters of Italian descent, raised in Brooklyn and living in Manhattan. The ...

to this

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

and might be included within it.Long-Qian Xiao and Hua Zhu. 2007. "Paraphyly and phylogenetic relationships in ''Lasianthus'' (Rubiaceae) inferred from chloroplast rps16 data". ''Botanical Studies'' 48(2):227-232. (See ''External links'' below). Lasiantheae was formerly thought to be close to ''

Psychotria ''Psychotria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It contains 1,582 species and is therefore one of the largest genera of flowering plants. The genus has a pantropical distribution and members of the genus are small understor ...

'', but is now known to be a basal

clade 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, ...

. It is

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to the large clade containing '' Coussarea'', ''Psychotria'', ''

Spermacoce ''Spermacoce'' or false buttonweed is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises about 275 species found throughout the tropics and subtropics. Its highest diversity is found in the Americas, followed by Africa, Australia a ...

'', and many other genera.Catarina Rydin, Kent Kainulainen, Sylvain G Razafimandimbison, Jenny E E Smedmark, and Birgitta Bremer. 2009. "Deep divergences in the coffee family and the systematic position of ''Acranthera''". ''Plant Systematics and Evolution'' 278(1-2):101-123. '' Saprosma'' and '' Amaracarpus'' were traditionally thought to be close to ''Lasianthus''. ''Saprosma'' is

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

, with only part of it related to ''Lasianthus''. ''Amaracarpus'' is close to ''Psychotria''. The African genera ''

Batopedina ''Batopedina'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae.Verdcourt, Bernard. 1953. Bulletin du Jardin Botanique de l'État à Bruxelles 23: 29. ''Batopedina linearifolia'' It was described by Bernard Verdcourt in 1953. The genus is f ...

'' and '' Dirichletia'' have also been suggested as relatives of ''Lasianthus''.

Taxonomy

Only one

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 ...

study Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of drawi ...

has

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

more than a few species from the tribe Lasiantheae. In that study, 11 species of ''Lasianthus'' were sampled, but few relationships were resolved. In 2012, a revision of the Malesian species divided ''Lasianthus'' into 3

sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

, based on the following type species: L. section Stipulares ('' Lasianthus stipularis''), L. section Lasianthus ('' Lasianthus cyanocarpus''), and L. section Nudiflorae ('' Lasianthus blumeanus''). They did not recognize L.section Pedunculatae ('' Lasianthus biermanii''), which some previous authors had recognized. They considered it to be indistinguishable from L. section Lasianthus.

References

External links

''Lasianthus''Search PageScience DirectoryKew Gardens

''Lasianthus''NamesTropicosScience and ConservationMissouri Botanical Garden

''Lasianthus''List of GeneraRubiaceaeList of familiesFamilies and Genera in GRINQueriesGRIN taxonomy for plants

''Lasianthus''LasiantheaeRubioideaeRubiaceaeEmbryophytaStreptophytinaStreptophytaViridiplantaeEukaryotaTaxonomyUniProt

''Lasianthus''Index Nominum Genericorum

Research and Collections

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Revision of Malesian ''Lasianthus''

List of lower taxa''Lasianthus''.pdf''Lasianthus''List of lower taxa (genera)Chinese Plant NamesRubiaceaeFOC vol. 19page 2Family ListFlora of ChinaeFloras

Flora of Sri Lanka

At:
Of:
At:
At:
At:
At:
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At:Kew Gardens

Gentian Research Network

CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: D-LBotany & Plant ScienceLife ScienceCRC Press

''Lasianthus''Plant NamesIPNI

''Lasianthus'', page 125Volume 14BibliographyTransactions of the Linnean Society of LondonTitles beginning with "T"TitlesBiodiversity Heritage Library

Xiao & Zhu 2007 on ''Lasianthus''''Botanical Studies'' an international journal
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3238493 Rubiaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot