Plagianthus is a genus of flowering plants confined to New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. The familial placement of the genus was controversial for many years, but modern genetic studies show it definitely belongs in the Malvaceae subfamily Malvoideae.[3] The name means "slanted flowers".[1]

Plagianthus
Plagianthus divaricatus, illustration with analysis by William Jackson Hooker
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Malvoideae
Tribe: Malveae
Genus: Plagianthus
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.[1]
Type species
Plagianthus divaricatus
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.[1]
Species
Synonyms[2]
  • Blepharanthemum Klotzsch
  • Philippodendron Endl.
  • Philippodendrum Poit.
  • Wrenciala A.Gray

Description edit

The type species P. divaricatus is a divaricate shrub which grows at the edges of salt marshes. The other species, P. regius is a tree which in juvenile stage may be divaricate (subsp. regius) or not (subsp. chathamica).

These are the only species recognized currently. In the past, species from related genera such as Hoheria (New Zealand), Asterotrichion, Lawrencia and Gynatrix (Australia) were sometimes assigned to the genus. Instead, all these genera are now grouped in an informal "Plagianthus alliance".[4]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Johann Reinhold Forster & Georg Forster (1776). "plate 43". Characteres generum plantarum, quas in itinere ad insulas maris Australis: collegerunt, descripserunt, delinearunt, annis 1772-1775. London: B. White, T. Cadell, and P. Elmsly.
  2. ^ "Plagianthus J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  3. ^ Tate, J. A., J. F. Aguilar, S. J. Wagstaff, J. C. La Duke, T. A. Bodo Slotta and B. B. Simpson (2005). "Phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Malveae (Malvaceae, subfamily Malvoideae) as inferred from ITS sequence data" (PDF). American Journal of Botany. 92 (4): 584–602. doi:10.3732/ajb.92.4.584. PMID 21652437.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Kubitzki, Klaus & Bayer, Clemens (2003). Flowering Plants, Dicotyledons: Malvales, Capparales and non-betalain Caryophyllales. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. V. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. p. 305. ISBN 978-3-642-07680-0.

External links edit