genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
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
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...
. It contains 694
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
, which range from
shrub
A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...
s to small
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
s, and is distributed throughout the New World
tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
.Taylor (2008)
These plants are closely related to ''
Psychotria
''Psychotria'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the coffee family Rubiaceae, with over 1,600 species. The genus has a pantropical distribution and members of the genus are small understorey trees in tropical forests. Some species are endan ...
'' and in particular its
subgenus
In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.
In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...
''Heteropsychotria''. Indeed, it seems to be nothing else but a distinctively-flowered offshoot of ''Heteropsychotria''; arguably, it would thus need to be merged into ''Psychotria'' to make that genus
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
. On the other hand, ''Psychotria'' is extremely diverse already, so it is probably more practical to move the more distantly related species out of this genus and merge ''Heteropsychotria'' with ''Palicourea''. By a Hungarian botanist
Attila Borhidi
Borhidi Attila (born 28 June 1932), is a Széchenyi Prize winning Hungarian botanist, ecologist, professor, politician and full member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He is most noted for his extensive work on plant taxonomy. 1989 to 1992, ...
, some of the ''Psychotria'' species have been transferred into this genus.
The genus is not well studied. Most species are distylous, although a few on isolated
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
islands seem to have lost the trait. Flowers are in racemes, having no scent, and are normally
pollinated
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; bird ...
by
hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...
s. Blue-black berries follow, and are thought to be distributed by birds.
Almost one-tenth of the ''Palicourea'' species are considered
threatened
A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...
by the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
, even though the conservation status has only been reviewed for those species that occur in
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
.IUCN (2008)
Selected species
* ''
Palicourea anderssoniana
''Palicourea anderssoniana'' is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the e ...
''
* ''
Palicourea anianguana
''Palicourea anianguana'' is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east ...
''
* ''
Palicourea asplundii
''Palicourea asplundii'' is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east ...
''
* ''
Palicourea azurea
''Palicourea azurea'' is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and ...
''
* ''
Palicourea bracteocardia
''Palicourea bracteocardia'' is a species of shrub from the genus ''Palicourea''.
Distribution
''Palicourea bracteocardia'' is described as being found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Recordings by ...
''
* ''
Palicourea calantha
''Palicourea calantha'' is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east a ...
''
* ''
Palicourea calothyrsus
''Palicourea calothyrsus'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is Endemism, endemic to Ecuador.
References
Flora of Ecuador
Palicourea, calothyrsus
Vulnerable plants
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Taxa named ...
''
* ''
Palicourea calycina
''Palicourea calycina'' is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east a ...
Palicourea gentryi
''Palicourea gentryi'' is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east an ...
''
* ''
Palicourea heilbornii
''Palicourea heilbornii'' is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east ...