Twinflower

''Linnaea'' is a plant genus in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Until 2013, the genus included a single species, ''Linnaea borealis''. In 2013, on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence, the genus was expanded to include species formerly placed in ''Abelia'' (excluding section ''Zabelia''), ''Diabelia'', ''Dipelta'', ''Kolkwitzia'' and '' Vesalea''. However, this is rejected by the majority of subsequent scientific literature and flora.

''Linnaea borealis'' was a favorite of Carl Linnaeus, founder of the modern system of binomial nomenclature, for whom the genus was named.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Linnaea'' was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus. The name had been used earlier by the Dutch botanist Jan Frederik Gronovius, and was given in honour of Linnaeus. Linnaeus adopted the name in 1753 in ''Species Plantarum'' for the then sole species ''Linnaea borealis'', because it was his favourite plant.

Most botanists resisted placing other species in the genus, treating ''Linnaea'' as a monotypic genus. However, molecular phylogenetic studies from 2001 onwards showed that a number of genera were related to ''Linnaea'' (the "''Linnaea'' clade"), although one of them, ''Abelia'', was not monophyletic. In 2013, to maintain monophyletic genera, Maarten Christenhusz proposed merging ''Abelia'' (excluding section ''Zabelia''), ''Diabelia'', ''Dipelta'', ''Kolkwitzia'' and ''Vesalea'' into ''Linnaea''. This proposal has been adopted by some secondary sources, including briefly by ''Plants of the World Online'' (POWO). However, other sources prefer to maintain the segregation of Linnaeoideae into the traditional genera on grounds of morphology, biogeography and nomenclatural simplicity. POWO, in 2022 list ''Diabelia'', and '' Vesalea'' as a separate species.
The World Flora Online (WFO), which now supersedes The Plant List (TPL), maintains ''Abelia'' as the accepted genus for example of ''Abelia'' × ''grandiflora'', for which ''Linnaea'' × ''grandiflora'' is not listed as a synonym.

Former species

Not accepted by POWO, or WFO.

* ''Kolkwitzia amabilis'' - '' Linnaea amabilis'' – China (Anhui, Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Shanxi); rare in the wild but widely cultivated in China, Japan, Europe and North America
* ''Linnaea borealis'' – circumboreal and subarctic (Canada, northern and central USA, Greenland, northern Britain, Fennoscandia, Baltic States, Mainland Europe south to the Alps, and the Balkans, Ukraine, Russia, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, northern China, Korea, northern Japan)
* '' Linnaea chinensis'' – China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang), northern Vietnam, Taiwan; commonly cultivated in China and Japan, occasionally in Europe and North America
* ''Linnaea coriacea'' – Mexico (Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí)
* ''Linnaea dipelta'' – China (Gansu, Guangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan)
* ''Linnaea elegans'' – China (Gansu, Sichuan)
* ''Linnaea engleriana''
* ''Linnaea floribunda'' – Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz)
* ''Linnaea forrestii'' – south-central China (southwestern Sichuan, northwestern Yunnan)
* ''Linnaea'' × ''grandiflora'' – garden hybrid of ''L. chinensis'' and ''L. uniflora'', only known from cultivation
* ''Linnaea grandifolia'' – Central Mexico (Querétaro)
* ''Linnaea macrotera''
* ''Linnaea mexicana'' – south-central Mexico (Oaxaca)
* ''Linnaea occidentalis'' – Mexico (Durango)
* '' Linnaea parvifolia''
* '' Linnaea serrata'' – China (Zhejiang), Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku)
* '' Linnaea spathulata'' – China (Zhejiang), Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku)
* '' Linnaea tetrasepala'' – Japan (Honshu, Shikoku)
* ''Linnaea uniflora'' – China (Fujian, Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan); frequently cultivated
* '' Linnaea yunnanensis'' – China (Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan), and adjacent Burma

Cultivation

Several species of ''Linnaea'' are in cultivation. In the UK, plants are widely listed under the name ''Abelia''. Though not fully hardy, they are easy to grow in a sheltered, sunny position. The cultivar ‘Edward Goucher’ has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

References

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External links

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q5114721

Caprifoliaceae