''Reyesia'' is a small genus of four species of flowering plants belonging to the subfamily

Cestroideae Cestroideae (syn. Browallioideae) is a subfamily of the plant family Solanaceae, the nightshades. It currently contains the three tribes and seven genera, as follows: *Browallieae Hunz. **''Browallia'' L. **'' Streptosolen'' (Benth.) Miers *Ce ...

of the nightshade family

Solanaceae The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orn ...

. It is closely related to the genus ''

Salpiglossis ''Salpiglossis'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the subfamily Cestroideae of family Solanaceae. It is closely related to the genus ''Reyesia'', with which it makes up the tribe Salpiglossideae. Species in the genus ''Salpiglossis'' ...

'', which provides the ornamental species ''

Salpiglossis sinuata ''Salpiglossis sinuata'', the painted tongue, scalloped tube tongue, velvet trumpet flower, palito amargo ( Spanish : ''bitter little stick'' - from the extreme bitterness of its leaves) or panza de burro ( Spanish : ''donkey's paunch'' ), is ...

''. Together, the genera ''Reyesia'' and ''Salpiglossis'' form the tribe Salpiglossideae within the Cestroideae. Historically, the species now placed in ''Reyesia'' have been held by some authors to belong to ''Salpiglossis'', but are currently placed in a genus of their own by virtue of their tiny flowers and peculiar

androecium 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 ...

(see description below). ''The Biology and Taxonomy of the Solanaceae'' edited by Hawkes, J.G., Lester, R.N. and Skelding, A.D. (Linnean Society Symposium Series Number 7) Published for the Linnean Society of London by Academic Press 1979 p. 77.Armando T. Hunziker: ''The Genera of Solanaceae''. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag K.G., Ruggell, Liechtenstein 2001. pp. 374–377.

Description

Annuals or

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 (possibly also

biennials A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle. Life cycle In its first year, the biennal plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures ...

) clad in sticky

trichomes Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

, the plants between 0.3 and 0.8 m in height, greatly dichotomously branched or with only one branched main stem, terminal branches spine-like. One species almost leafless: the others with lower leaves with large (circa 40 mm) pinnatifid – almost pinnatisect – blades decurrent on conspicuous petioles, or forming a basal rosette of broad leaves with long petioles. Upper leaves small, almost sessile, uppermost often reduced to tiny thread-like scales. Flowers solitary, terminal, small, pedicels 10–20 mm, calyces 2–4 mm, strongly glanduliferous – like the pedicels – with five short, equal, acute teeth; corolla

zygomorphic Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...

, 6–13 mm, tubulose to funnel-shaped, violet, blue or yellow, with or without violet stripes, lobes five, of which four equal (the remaining anterior lobe slightly larger), lobes much shorter than tube; stamens included and somewhat curved towards the larger anterior corolla lobe;

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 four, in two pairs of different lengths, the posterior pair fertile with larger

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, the lateral pair with smaller anthers, fertile (in ''R. chilensis'') or sterile (in ''R. parviflora''). Anthers with filaments hairless or hairy,

thecae In biology, a theca (plural thecae) is a sheath or a covering. Botany In botany, the theca is related to plant's flower anatomy. The theca of an angiosperm consists of a pair of microsporangia that are adjacent to each other and share a comm ...

usually unequal, anthers basifixed,

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

grains free or in tetrads;

Nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

y pelviform, bilobed;

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

thread-like, hollow or solid, almost as long as longest stamens, the stigma spoon-shaped. Capsules small (circa 3–4 mm) hidden in bases of persistent calyces;

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s between two and twenty-five in number, depending on species. Testa reticulate or granulate,

embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

of seed curved.

Taxonomy

The genus was described in 1849 by pioneering French botanist, illustrator and explorer of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Claude Gay Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (March 18, 1800 – November 29, 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator. This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and geo ...

( a.k.a. Claudio Gay Mouret ) in

Flora Chilena Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms ''gut flora'' or ''skin flora''. Ety ...

4(4): 418–420, t. 52. 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 specimen ...

is ''Reyesia chilensis''. The genus name ''Reyesia'' commemorates Chilean politician and journalist Antonio García Reyes (1817–1855).

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

accepted four species: *'' Reyesia cactorum'' (I.M.Johnst.) D'Arcy *''

Reyesia chilensis ''Reyesia'' is a small genus of four species of flowering plants belonging to the subfamily Cestroideae of the nightshade family Solanaceae. It is closely related to the genus '' Salpiglossis'', which provides the ornamental species '' Salpiglo ...

'' Clos *'' Reyesia juniperoides'' (Werderm.) D'Arcy *'' Reyesia parviflora'' (Phil.) Hunz.

Distribution and habitat

The four accepted species are found in

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

northern Chile in

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. The second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered t ...

Tarapacá Region The Tarapacá Region ( es, Región de Tarapacá, ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Iquique and Tamarugal. It borders the Chilean Arica and Parinacota Region to the north, Bolivia's Oruro D ...

Arica y Parinacota Region The Arica y Parinacota Region ( es, link=no, Región de Arica y Parinacota ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Arica and Parinacota. It borders Peru's Department of Tacna to the north, Bolivi ...

, Atacama Region and

Coquimbo Region The Coquimbo Region ( es, Región de Coquimbo, ) is one of Chile's 16 regions (first order administrative divisions). It is bordered by Atacama to the north, Valparaíso to the south, Argentina to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. The three species ''R. cactorum'', ''R. juniperoides'' and ''R. parviflora'' are

xerophytes A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or the ...

growing at rather high altitudes of between 2900 m and 3500 m. The fourth species, ''R. chilensis'', by contrast is found at much lower altitudes of between 200 m and 800 m, not far from the Pacific coast of Chile. Although all four species are to be found in Chile, the genus is not

endemic 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 elsew ...

to that country, since the species ''Reyesia parviflora'' is found also in neighbouring Argentina, in Andean areas of the provinces of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

and Mendoza.William D'Arcy: A Preliminary Synopsis of Salpiglossis and Other Cestreae (Solanaceae). In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Band 65, 1978. S. 698–724.

Description

Taxonomy

Species

Distribution and habitat

References

Further reading