''Episcia'' is a genus of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the
African violet family,
Gesneriaceae
Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World (almost all Didymocarpoideae) and the New World (most Ges ...
. The ten species it contains are native to the tropical regions of
Central and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. The species are perennial
herbaceous plants
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent wood, woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennial plant, perennials, and nearly all Annual plant, annuals and Biennial plant, biennials.
Definition ...
characterized by a
stolon
In biology, a stolon ( from Latin ''wikt:stolo, stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as a runner, is a horizontal connection between parts of an organism. It may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton. Typically, animal ...
iferous habit, red (rarely orange, pink, blue or yellow) flowers, and frequently have marked or patterned leaves. Episcias are sometimes called flame violets.
Taxonomy
The genus name is derived from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
επισκισς (''episkios''), meaning "shaded". This refers to the understory habitat of these plants.
For much of the twentieth century ''Episcia'' had a broad circumscription but since 1978 has been restricted to a much narrower one, with the genera ''
Paradrymonia'', ''
Chrysothemis
In Greek mythology, Chrysothemis or Khrysothemis (; , "golden law") is a name ascribed to several female characters in Greek mythology.
* Chrysothemis, daughter of Carmator and the first winner of the oldest contest held at the Pythian Games, ...
'', ''
Nautilocalyx'', and ''
Alsobia
''Alsobia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. It contains four species.
The species in the genus are succulent and stoloniferous herb
Herbs are a widely distributed and wi ...
'' separated from it. The
segregation Segregation may refer to:
Separation of people
* Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space
* School segregation
* Housing segregation
* Racial segregation, separation of human ...
of these genera from ''Episcia'' has been supported in recent
molecular phylogenies
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
.
Species
Section ''Episcia''
* ''
Episcia andina''
Wiehler
* ''
Episcia cupreata''
(Hook.) Hanst.
* ''
Episcia duidae''
Feuillet
* ''
Episcia lilacina''
Hanst.
* ''
Episcia prancei''
Wiehler
* ''
Episcia reptans''
Mart.
* ''
Episcia xantha''
Leeuwenb.
Section ''Trematanthera''
(Leeuwenb.) Feuillet
* ''
Episcia fimbriata''
Fritsch
* ''
Episcia sphalera''
Leeuwenb.
* ''
Episcia rubra''
Feuillet
Cultivation
They are frequently cultivated elsewhere and sometimes naturalize in tropical regions. They are grown in the tropics, and in temperate regions as
houseplant
A houseplant, also known as a pot plant, potted plant, or indoor plant, is an ornamental plant cultivated indoors. for aesthetic or practical purposes. These plants are commonly found in House, homes, Office, offices, and various indoor spaces, w ...
s, primarily for their attractive foliage. Numerous
cultivar
A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...
s have been produced, primarily by selection and
hybridization of the species ''
E. cupreata'' and ''
E. reptans''.
References
* Feuillet, C. 2008. Folia taxonomica 7. Two new species and a new section in ''Episcia'' (Gesneriaceae) from the Venezuelan Guayana. ''J. Bot. Res. Int. Texas'' 2(1): 275-280.
* Wiehler, H. 1978. The genera ''Episcia'', ''Alsobia'', ''Nautilocalyx'', and ''Paradrymonia'' (Gesneriaceae). ''Selbyana'' 5: 11-60.
External links
''Episcia''fro
The Genera of Gesneriaceae (Follow links)from th
Gesneriad Reference Web
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2573318
Gesneriaceae genera
Flora of the Neotropical realm
Taxa described in 1829