Disporum (commonly known as fairy bells) is a genus of about 20 species of perennial flowering plants, found in Asia from northern India to Japan, south to Indonesia and north into the Russian Far East.[1][2]

Disporum
Disporum viridescens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Colchicaceae
Genus: Disporum
Salisb. ex D.Don
Synonyms[1]
Disporum viridescens in cultivation in England

Taxonomy

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Disporum pullum, from China, was first named by Salisbury in 1812,[a] but subsequent authors places it in other genera such as Streptopus and Uvularia, till Don published the first valid description in 1825.[3]

In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Colchicaceae.[1] The genus previously included five species in North America, but these have been separated as the genus Prosartes D.Don and moved to the family Liliaceae in accordance to differences in karyology and chemistry as well as results from molecular systematic investigations.[4] The type species is Disporum pullum Salisb., which is a synonym of Disporum cantoniense.

Species[1]
Excluded species in North America[1]
  • Disporum hookeri (Torr.) G.Nicholson – now Prosartes hookeri Torr. - Hooker's fairy bells
  • Disporum lanuginosum (Michx.) G.Nicholson – now Prosartes lanuginosa (Michx.) D.Don - yellow mandarin
  • Disporum maculatum (Buckley) Britton – now Prosartes maculata (Buckley) A.Gray - spotted or nodding mandarin
  • Disporum smithii (Hook.) Piper – now Prosartes smithii (Hook.) Utech, Shinwari & Kawano - Smith's fairy bells
  • Disporum trachycarpum (S.Watson) Benth. & Hook.f. – now Prosartes trachycarpa S.Watson - rough-fruited fairy bells

Notes

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  1. ^ Trans. Hort. Soc. London 1: 331 (1812)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e WCLSPF 2020.
  2. ^ Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 154 万寿竹属 wan shou zhu shu Disporum Salisbury ex D. Don, Prodr. Fl. Nepal. 50. 1825.
  3. ^ Hara 1988.
  4. ^ Shinwari, Z.K.; Terauchi, R.; Utech, F.H. & Kawano, S. (1994), "Recognition of the New World Disporum Section Prosartes as Prosartes (Liliaceae) Based on the Sequence Data of the rbcL Gene", Taxon, 43 (3): 353–366, doi:10.2307/1222713, JSTOR 1222713

Bibliography

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