''Aldama'' is a

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 plants in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. The native range of this genus is tropical & sub-tropical America. The genus was originally described to include one (later two) species of subtribe Helianthinae that were characterized by having pales that tightly enclosed the cypselae (

achenes An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not open ...

) (see Feddema, 1971). It was first published and described in P.de La Llave & J.M.de Lexarza, Nov. Veg. Descr. 1: 14 in 1824. ''Aldama'' is currently, characterized by having a perennial herbaceous habit, a pappus usually of awns and scales, and a multi-seriate

involucre In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

. Botanists Schilling & Panero in 2002 and 2011, studied the subtribe Helianthinae based on molecular sequences of nuclear

ITS ITS, its or it's may refer to: Language * It's, an English contraction of ''it is'' or ''it has'' * Its (pronoun), the possessive form of the pronoun it * Itsekiri language (ISO 639 language code its), a language found in Nigeria and the Niger De ...

, ETS, and cpDNA, coming to a conclusion that the genus ''

Viguiera ''Viguiera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It contains around 19–40 species, which are commonly known as goldeneyes and are native to the New World. These are herbs to bushy shrubs that bear yellow or orange daisy-lik ...

'' , did not constitute a

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 ...

group. Among their conclusions they proposed to reclassify the genus, dividing and relocating its species in at least eleven genera: ''Aldama'' , '' Bahiopsis'' , '' Calanticaria'' , '' Davilanthus'' , ''

Dendroviguiera ''Dendroviguiera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family. Its native range stretches from Mexico into Central America. Formerly part of the '' Viguiera'' genus, until a DNA study in 2011 separated out all the shrub/tree species ...

'' , '' Gonzalezia'' , ''

Heiseria ''Heiseria'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. It is native to Peru. Botanists Edward E. Schilling and José Luis Panero in 2002 and 2011, studied the subtribe Helianthinae based on molecular sequences of nuclea ...

'' , ''

Heliomeris ''Heliomeris'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, known generally as false goldeneyes. They are native to the western United States and northern Mexico. One species, '' H. obscura'', is separated from the others, endemic to ...

'' , ''

Hymenostephium ''Hymenostephium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It includes herbs and slender shrubs that occur from Mexico through to Venezuela and north-western Argentina. Description ''Hymenostephium'' is characterized by the rela ...

'' , ''

Sidneya ''Sidneya'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. Its native range is southern central USA (in the states of New Mexico and Texas) to Mexico and El Salvador. The genus name of ''Sidneya'' is in honour of Sidney Fay ...

'' and ''Viguiera'' . So ''Aldama'' has been expanded to include a total of 115-118 species.

Distribution

It is native to (countries of): Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, northern and central Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, United States (in the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas) and Venezuela.

References

Asteraceae genera Heliantheae {{Heliantheae-stub