Alonsoa (mask flower) is a genus of 12 species of flowering plants in the family Scrophulariaceae. The genus includes both herbaceous and shrubby species.

Alonsoa
Alonsoa meridionalis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Tribe: Hemimerideae
Genus: Alonsoa
Ruiz & Pav.
Species
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The genus is native to Central and western South America, from south Mexico to Peru and Chile. At least two species are native to South Africa.[1] Alonsoas grow to around 30–100 cm tall, and have small, broadly oval, serrated leaves. The red, orange, yellow, white or occasionally blue flowers are borne on a loose terminal raceme.

The alonsoa is named after Zenón de Alonso Acosta, a Spanish official in Bogota, Colombia.[2][3]

Species

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References

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  1. ^ Steiner, Kim E. (1989). "A Second Species of the Amphi-Atlantic Genus Alonsoa (Scrophulariaceae) in South Africa". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 76 (4): 1152–1159. doi:10.2307/2399701. JSTOR 2399701.
  2. ^ H. Ruiz López & J.A. Pavón, Systema Vegetabilium Florae Peruvianae et Chilensis 150–152, 1798
  3. ^ Mark A. Burkholder, Biographical Dictionary of Councilors of the Indies, 1717-1808, 1986, p.. 5-6
  4. ^ Species in Alonsoa
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