''Plowmanianthus'' Faden & C.R.Hardy is a genus of plants with 5 species and 2 subspecies in the family

Commelinaceae Commelinaceae is a family of flowering plants. In less formal contexts, the group is referred to as the dayflower family or spiderwort family. It is one of five families in the order Commelinales and by far the largest of these with about 731 kn ...

(the spiderwort and dayflower family). The genus is distributed from

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

to Amazonian

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Systematics & Distributions

''Plowmanianthus'' is a member of the subtribe Dichorisandrinae of the tribe Tradescantieae of the flowering plant family

. It has 5 species and 2 subspecies, all of which were described with the circumscription of the genus itself by Hardy and Faden (2004). Proceeding from the north to south and southeast of the genus's distribution, the taxa are as follows. *''Plowmanianthus dressleri'' is endemic to Panama, west of the Canal Zone. *''Plowmanianthus panamensis'' is endemic to Panama, east of the Canal Zone. *''Plowmanianthus grandifolius'' is native to Amazonian Ecuador, northern Amazonian Peru, and western Brazil. It consists of two subspecies. **''P. grandifolius'' ssp. ''grandifolius'' is native to northern Amazonian Peru and western Brazil; **''P. grandifolius'' ssp. ''robustus'' C.R.Hardy & Faden is native to Amazonian Ecuador and northern Amazonian Peru. *''Plowmanianthus peruvianaus'' is native to northern Amazonian Peru. *''Plowmanianthus perforans'' is native to southern Amazonian Peru.

Taxonomy

The genus is named in honor of

Timothy Plowman Timothy Charles Plowman (November 17, 1944 – January 7, 1989) was an ethnobotanist best known for his intensive work over the course of 15 years on the genus ''Erythroxylum'' in general, and the cultivated coca species in particular. He co ...

(1944–1989), an American

ethnobotanist Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

best known for his intensive work over the course of 15 years on the genus ''

Erythroxylum ''Erythroxylum'' (''Erythroxylon'') is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Erythroxylaceae. Many of the approximately 200 species contain the substance cocaine,Bieri S, Brachet A, Veuthey J, Christen P. Cocaine distribution in wild ...

'', and the cultivated

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, Al ...

species in particular. It was first described and published in Syst. Bot. Vol.29 on page 316 in 2004.

Morphology

Rosette, typically unbranched herbs with somewhat

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

, strap-shaped leaves. In the wild, plants grow on the floor of primary

rainforests Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

, shallowly rooted in the

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

-rich and leaf-litter layers. ''Plowmanianthus'' resembles its close relative, the

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

genus ''

Cochliostema ''Cochliostema'' is a genus of plants with two species in the family Commelinaceae (the spiderwort and dayflower family). The genus occurs from southern Nicaragua to southern Ecuador. Systematics ''Cochliostema'' is a member of the subtribe Dic ...

'', but is smaller (its leaves reach only to ca. 30 cm in length) and is not epiphytic. Its flowers are also much smaller, lack the spirally coiled anthers of ''Cochliostema'', and are usually

cleistogamous Cleistogamy is a type of automatic self-pollination of certain plants that can propagate by using non-opening, self-pollinating flowers. Especially well known in peanuts, peas, and pansies, this behavior is most widespread in the grass family. How ...

(i.e., they usually never open).

References

Other sources

* Hardy CR, RB Faden (2004) ''Plowmanianthus'', a new genus of Commelinaceae with five new species from tropical America. ''Systematic Botany'' 29 (2): 316-333. * Hardy CR, JI Davis, DW Stevenson (2004) Floral organogenesis in ''Plowmanianthus'' (Commelinaceae). ''International Journal of Plant Sciences'' 165 (4): 511-519. {{Taxonbar, from=Q7205191 Commelinaceae Commelinales genera Plants described in 2004 Flora of North Brazil Flora of Colombia Flora of Ecuador Flora of Panama Flora of Peru