''Gesneria'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of approximately 50 species in the
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
family
Gesneriaceae
Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a 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 Gesnerioideae), wi ...
. Except for two or three odd
South American
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
species, all are native to islands of the
Caribbean. The genus is classified in the tribe Gesnerieae along with the genera ''
Bellonia'', ''
Pheidonocarpa'', and ''
Rhytidophyllum''. ''Gesneria'' species are usually woody
shrubs or
subshrubs, and (with the closely related ''
Rhytidophyllum'') are unusual in the family in having alternately (rather than decussately) arranged leaves. A complete list of the accepted species and their synonyms can be found in the Smithsonian Institution's World Checklist of Gesneriaceae.
The genus name honors
Conrad Gessner
Conrad Gessner (; la, Conradus Gesnerus 26 March 1516 – 13 December 1565) was a Swiss physician, naturalist, bibliographer, and philologist. Born into a poor family in Zürich, Switzerland, his father and teachers quickly realised his tale ...
.
Selected species
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Gesneria acaulis''
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Gesneria calycina''
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Gesneria calycosa''
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Gesneria christii''
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Gesneria citrina''
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Gesneria cuneifolia''
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Gesneria depressa''
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Gesneria exserta''
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Gesneria humilis''
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Gesneria pauciflora
''Gesneria pauciflora'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae known by the common name ''yerba maricao de cueva''. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where there are only three populations remaining.USFWSRecovery Plan for ''G ...
''
*''
Gesneria pedicellaris''
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Gesneria pedunculosa''
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Gesneria reticulata''
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Gesneria ventricosa''
External links
Skog, L.E. 1976. A Study of the Tribe Gesnerieae, with a Revision of ''Gesneria'' (Gesneriaceae: Gesnerioideae). ''Smithsonian Contributions to Botany''. 29: 1-182 (pdf file).
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The Genera of Gesneriaceae
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The Gesneriad Reference WebWorld Checklist of Gesneriaceae
Gesneriaceae genera
{{Gesneriaceae-stub