''Reyesia'' is a small genus of four species of flowering plants belonging to the subfamily

Cestroideae Cestroideae (syn. Browallioideae) is a subfamily of the plant family Solanaceae, the nightshades. It currently contains the three tribes and seven genera, as follows: * Browallieae Hunz. ** ''Browallia'' L. ** '' Streptosolen'' (Benth.) Miers ...

of the nightshade family

Solanaceae Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

. It is closely related to the genus '' Salpiglossis'', which provides the ornamental species '' Salpiglossis sinuata''. Together, the genera ''Reyesia'' and ''Salpiglossis'' form the tribe Salpiglossideae within the Cestroideae. Historically, the species now placed in ''Reyesia'' have been held by some authors to belong to ''Salpiglossis'', but are currently placed in a genus of their own by virtue of their tiny flowers and peculiar

androecium The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

(see description below). ''The Biology and Taxonomy of the Solanaceae'' edited by Hawkes, J.G., Lester, R.N. and Skelding, A.D. (Linnean Society Symposium Series Number 7) Published for the Linnean Society of London by Academic Press 1979 p. 77.Armando T. Hunziker: ''The Genera of Solanaceae''. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag K.G., Ruggell, Liechtenstein 2001. pp. 374–377.

Description

Annuals or

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often interch ...

s (possibly also

biennials A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle. Background In its first year, the biennial plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures ...

) clad in sticky

trichomes Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

, the plants between 0.3 and 0.8 m in height, greatly dichotomously branched or with only one branched main stem, terminal branches spine-like. One species almost leafless: the others with lower leaves with large (circa 40 mm) pinnatifid – almost pinnatisect – blades decurrent on conspicuous petioles, or forming a basal

rosette Rosette is the French diminutive of ''rose''. It may refer to: Flower shaped designs * Rosette (award), a mark awarded by an organisation * Rosette (design), a small flower design *hence, various flower-shaped or rotational symmetric forms: ** R ...

of broad leaves with long petioles. Upper leaves small, almost sessile, uppermost often reduced to tiny thread-like scales. Flowers solitary, terminal, small, pedicels 10–20 mm, calyces 2–4 mm, strongly glanduliferous – like the pedicels – with five short, equal, acute teeth; corolla

zygomorphic Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spir ...

, 6–13 mm, tubulose to funnel-shaped, violet, blue or yellow, with or without violet stripes, lobes five, of which four equal (the remaining anterior lobe slightly larger), lobes much shorter than tube; stamens included and somewhat curved towards the larger anterior corolla lobe;

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s four, in two pairs of different lengths, the posterior pair fertile with larger

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s, the lateral pair with smaller anthers, fertile (in ''R. chilensis'') or sterile (in ''R. parviflora''). Anthers with filaments hairless or hairy,

thecae In biology, a theca (: thecae) is a sheath or a covering. Botany In botany, the theca is related to plant's flower anatomy. The theca of an angiosperm consists of a pair of microsporangia that are adjacent to each other and share a common are ...

usually unequal, anthers basifixed,

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

grains free or in tetrads;

Nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

y pelviform, bilobed;

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

thread-like, hollow or solid, almost as long as longest stamens, the stigma spoon-shaped. Capsules small (circa 3–4 mm) hidden in bases of persistent calyces;

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s between two and twenty-five in number, depending on species. Testa reticulate or granulate,

embryo An embryo ( ) is the initial stage of development for a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sp ...

of seed curved.

Taxonomy

The genus was described in 1849 by pioneering French botanist, illustrator and explorer of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Claude Gay Claude Gay, often named Claudio Gay in Spanish texts, (18 March 1800 – 29 November 1873), was a French botanist, naturalist and illustrator. This explorer carried out some of the first investigations about Chilean flora, fauna, geology and ge ...

( a.k.a. Claudio Gay Mouret ) in Flora Chilena 4(4): 418–420, t. 52. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is ''Reyesia chilensis''. The genus name ''Reyesia'' commemorates Chilean politician and journalist Antonio García Reyes (1817–1855).

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

accepted four species: *'' Reyesia cactorum'' (I.M.Johnst.) D'Arcy *'' Reyesia chilensis'' Clos *'' Reyesia juniperoides'' (Werderm.) D'Arcy *'' Reyesia parviflora'' (Phil.) Hunz.

Distribution and habitat

The four accepted species are found in

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

northern Chile in

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region (, ) is one of Chile's Administrative divisions of Chile, sixteen first-order administrative divisions. Being the second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta Province, Antofagasta, El ...

Tarapacá Region The Tarapacá Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order Administrative divisions of Chile, administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Iquique Province, Iquique and Tamarugal Province, Tamarugal. It borders the Chilean Arica y Par ...

Arica y Parinacota Region The Arica y Parinacota Region ( ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Arica Province, Arica and Parinacota Province, Parinacota. It borders Peru's Department of Tacna to the north, Bolivia's La ...

, Atacama Region and Coquimbo Region. The three species ''R. cactorum'', ''R. juniperoides'' and ''R. parviflora'' are

xerophytes A xerophyte () is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water. Examples of xerophytes include cacti, pineapple and some gymnosperm plants. The morphology and physiology of xerophytes are adapted to ...

growing at rather high altitudes of between 2900 m and 3500 m. The fourth species, ''R. chilensis'', by contrast is found at much lower altitudes of between 200 m and 800 m, not far from the Pacific coast of Chile. Although all four species are to be found in Chile, the genus is not

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to that country, since the species ''Reyesia parviflora'' is found also in neighbouring Argentina, in Andean areas of the provinces of

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

and Mendoza.William D'Arcy: A Preliminary Synopsis of Salpiglossis and Other Cestreae (Solanaceae). In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Band 65, 1978. S. 698–724.

Description

Taxonomy

Species

Distribution and habitat

References

Further reading