''Seemannia'' is a New World genus in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. There are four species in the genus, primarily found in the Andean regions of South America. The name honors the German botanist Berthold Carl Seemann.

Taxonomic history

''Seemannia'' was created in 1855 by

Regel Eduard August von Regel (sometimes Edward von Regel or Edward de Regel or Édouard von Regel), Russian: Эдуард Август Фон Регель; (born 13 August 1815 in Gotha; died 15 April 1892 in St. Petersburg) was a German horticultural ...

for the species ''Seemannia ternifolia'' (now considered a synonym of ''S. sylvatica''). In 1976 ''Seemannia'' was synonymized under the genus '' Gloxinia'' by gesneriad specialist

Hans Wiehler Hans Joachim Wiehler (8 July 1930 in Klecie, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Klettendorf – 2003) was a German botanist who specialized in the plant family Gesneriaceae. In 1954 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana a ...

but has more recently been revived following phylogenetic and morphological research on relationships of ''Gloxinia'' and related genera, which suggested that Wiehler's generic concept of ''Gloxinia'' was overly broad and polyphyletic. Although now recognized as a separate genus, ''Seemannia'' is closely related to ''Gloxinia'' and hybrids between the two genera are fertile although the two genera are very distinct morphologically. Although all of the species occur in the Andes, ''

Seemannia purpurascens ''Seemannia'' is a New World genus in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. There are four species in the genus, primarily found in the Andean regions of South America. The name honors the German botanist Berthold Carl Seemann. Taxonom ...

'' is unusual in having a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

, with populations in northern South America (

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

, French Guiana, and northern Brazil) widely separated from Andean populations in southern Peru and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. ;Species * ''

Seemannia gymnostoma ''Seemannia'' is a New World genus in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. There are four species in the genus, primarily found in the Andean regions of South America. The name honors the German botanist Berthold Carl Seemann. Taxonom ...

'' (southern Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina) * ''

Seemannia nematanthodes ''Seemannia'' is a New World genus in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. There are four species in the genus, primarily found in the Andean regions of South America. The name honors the German botanist Berthold Carl Seemann. Taxonom ...

'' (Bolivia, northern Argentina) * ''

'' (southern Peru, Bolivia, Guyana, French Guiana, northern Brazil) * ''

Seemannia sylvatica ''Seemannia'' is a New World genus in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. There are four species in the genus, primarily found in the Andes, Andean regions of South America. The name honors the German botanist Berthold Carl Seemann. Taxono ...

'' (Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina, Paraguay, southern Brazil)

References

*Roalson, E.H., J.K. Boggan, L.E., Skog, & E.A. Zimmer. 2005. Untangling the Gloxinieae (Gesneriaceae). I. Phylogenetic patterns and generic boundaries inferred from nuclear, chloroplast, and morphological cladistic data sets. ''Taxon'' 54 (2): 389-410. *Roalson, E.H., J.K. Boggan & L.E. Skog. 2005. Reorganization of tribal and generic boundaries in the Gloxinieae (Gesneriaceae: Gesnerioideae) and the description of a new tribe in the Gesnerioideae, Sphaerorrhizeae. ''Selbyana'' 25 (2): 225-238. *Wiehler, H. 1976. A report on the classification of ''Achimenes'', ''Eucodonia'', ''Gloxinia'', and ''Anetanthus'' (Gesneriaceae). ''Selbyana'' 1 (4): 374-404.

External links

''Seemannia''
a
Genera of Gesneriaceae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7445884 Gesnerioideae Gesneriaceae genera Taxa named by Eduard August von Regel