''Miconia'' 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 glory bush family,

Melastomataceae Melastomataceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs, s ...

, native to warm

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

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 ...

regions of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. The species are mostly shrubs and small to medium-sized

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 up to 15 m tall. The generic name honours

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

physician and botanist Francesc Micó. Some species are known by the common name johnnyberry. Many species are threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

in their native range, and some are feared to be on the brink of extinction. On the other hand, '' M. calvescens'' is a contributing factor in the decline and maybe even extinction of other plants: it has become a highly invasive

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

on a number of Pacific Islands where it was introduced, including

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

. It is often referred to as the "purple plague" or the "green cancer" in reference to its habit of overgrowing native

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s, and its leaves which are bright green above and bright purple below. ''Miconia'' fruit are a favorite food of many

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s (invasive ''M. calvescens'' spreads by this route). The leaves of some species are eaten by caterpillars of the moth-butterflies (

Hedylidae Hedylidae, the "American moth-butterflies", is a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera, representing the superfamily Hedyloidea. They have traditionally been viewed as an extant sister group of the butterfly superfamily Papilionoidea. In 19 ...

Species

As of 2020, genus ''Miconia'' comprised over 1200 species with new species occasionally being discovered, among them are: Miconia fallax

* ''

Miconia abbreviata ''Miconia abbreviata'' is a species of plant in the family Melastomataceae. It is endemic to Peru. References Endemic flora of Peru abbreviata ''Abbreviata'' is a genus of nematodes belonging to the family Physalopteridae. The genus ha ...

'' * ''

Miconia acuminata ''Miconia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the glory bush family, Melastomataceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species are mostly shrubs and small to medium-sized trees up to 15 m tall. The generic name ...

'' * '' Miconia acutifolia'' * '' Miconia aequatorialis'' * ''

Miconia albicans ''Miconia albicans'' is a species of shrub in the family Melastomataceae. It is known as canela-de-velho in Brazilian Portuguese. It is native to North and South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere ...

'' * '' Miconia aligera'' * '' Miconia alpina'' * '' Miconia altissima'' * '' Miconia argyrea'' * '' Miconia ascendens'' * '' Miconia asplundii'' * '' Miconia aspratilis'' * '' Miconia augustii'' * '' Miconia ayacuchensis'' * '' Miconia bailloniana'' * '' Miconia barbipilis'' * '' Miconia barclayana'' * '' Miconia beneolens'' * '' Miconia benoistii'' * '' Miconia bipatrialis'' * '' Miconia bolivarensis'' * '' Miconia bracteolata'' * '' Miconia brasiliensis'' * '' Miconia brevistylis'' * '' Miconia brevitheca'' * '' Miconia brunnea'' * '' Miconia budlejoides'' * '' Miconia caelata'' * '' Miconia caesariata'' * '' Miconia cabucu'' * '' Miconia cajanumana'' * '' Miconia calignosa'' * '' Miconia calophylla'' * ''

Miconia calvescens ''Miconia calvescens'', the velvet tree, miconia, or bush currant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae. It is native to Mexico and Central and South America and it has become one of the world's most invasive species. M ...

'' * '' Miconia campii'' * '' Miconia candolleana'' * '' Miconia capitellata'' * '' Miconia castillensis'' * '' Miconia castrensis'' * '' Miconia cava'' * '' Miconia centrosperma'' * '' Miconia ceramicarpa'' * '' Miconia cercophora'' * '' Miconia chamissois'' * '' Miconia chartacea'' * '' Miconia ciliata'' * '' Miconia cinerascens'' * '' Miconia cinnamomifolia'' * '' Miconia collayensis'' * '' Miconia conformis'' * '' Miconia corazonica'' * '' Miconia cosangensis'' * '' Miconia crebribullata'' * '' Miconia crenata'' * '' Miconia cuprea'' * '' Miconia cutucuensis'' * '' Miconia dapsiliflora'' * '' Miconia demissifolia'' * '' Miconia depauperata'' * '' Miconia dichroa'' * '' Miconia dielsii'' * '' Miconia dissimulans'' * '' Miconia divaricata'' * '' Miconia dodsonii'' * '' Miconia doriana'' * '' Miconia espinosae'' * '' Miconia explicita'' * ''

Miconia fallax ''Miconia fallax'' is a species of shrub in the family Melastomataceae. It is native to South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small port ...

Miconia sintenisii ''Miconia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the glory bush family, Melastomataceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species are mostly shrubs and small to medium-sized trees up to 15 m tall. The generic name ...

'' * '' Miconia sodiroi'' * '' Miconia sparrei'' * '' Miconia staminea'' * '' Miconia stenophylla'' * '' Miconia stenostachya'' * '' Miconia suborbicularis'' * '' Miconia subvernicosa'' * '' Miconia superba'' * '' Miconia tephrodes'' * '' Miconia theaezans'' * '' Miconia tomentosa'' * '' Miconia tristis'' * '' Miconia urophylla'' * '' Miconia valenzuelana'' * '' Miconia vesca'' * '' Miconia villonacensis'' * '' Miconia willdenowii'' * '' Miconia zamorensis''

References

External links

* {{Authority control Melastomataceae genera Neotropical realm flora