''Andesanthus'' 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 ...

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 ...

in the family

Melastomataceae Melastomataceae () is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics (two-thirds of the genera are from the New World tropics) comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs ...

, native to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

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 ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. The genus was established in 2019 for some species formerly placed in ''

Tibouchina ''Tibouchina'' "Tibouchina." Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Merriam Webster, 1961. is a neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Melastomataceae. Species of this genus are subshrubs, shru ...

''. Some species are cultivated as ornamental shrubs or trees.

Description

Species of ''Andesanthus'' are trees between 5 and 20 m tall at maturity or shrubs 1–3 m tall. Their leaves are opposite and petiolate (stalked). The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a terminal

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

or some modification of a panicle. The flowers are

perigynous In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule(s) and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the ba ...

with a bell- or urn-shaped

hypanthium In angiosperms, a hypanthium or floral cup is a structure where basal portions of the Sepal, calyx, the petal, corolla, and the stamens form a cup-shaped tube. It is sometimes called a floral tube, a term that is also used for corolla tube and cal ...

, externally covered with many soft hairs (pubescent) in most species. The flowers have five free

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s, which are pink, purple, magenta or white in colour, or initially magenta or rose-red fading to lavender with age. Flowers have ten

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, either all the same size or in two distinct sizes. The connective at the base of the anther of the stamen is prolonged and modified into a bilobed ventral appendage. The numerous seeds are shaped like a spiral (cochleate) which may be elongated. ''Andesanthus'' can be distinguished by its coating of small flattened scales (lepidote), hairless (glabrous) stamens which either have all their anthers yellow if of one size or have the larger anthers yellow and the smaller anthers pink or red if of two sizes.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Andesanthus'' was erected in 2019. The name reflects the fact that the majority of species occur in the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. In 1885, in his treatment for ''Flora brasiliensis'',

Alfred Cogniaux Célestin Alfred Cogniaux (7 April 1841 – 15 April 1916) was a Belgian botanist. Amongst other plants, the genus '' Neocogniauxia'' of orchids is named after him. In 1916 his enormous private herbarium was acquired by the National Botani ...

used a broad concept of the genus ''

'', transferring into it species at that time placed in many other genera. This broad concept was generally adopted subsequently, and around 470 taxa were at one time or another assigned to ''Tibouchina'', including those placed in ''Andesanthus'' in 2019. A

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

analysis in 2013 based on molecular data (2

plastid A plastid is a membrane-bound organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of plants, algae, and some other eukaryotic organisms. Plastids are considered to be intracellular endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. Examples of plastids include chloroplasts ...

and 1

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

regions) showed that the traditional circumscription of ''Tibouchina'' was paraphyletic. Four major

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s were resolved within the genus, which were supported by morphological, molecular and geographic evidence. A further

molecular phylogenetic 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 ...

study in 2019 used the same molecular markers but included more species. It reached the same conclusion: the original broadly circumscribed ''Tibouchina'' consisted of four monophyletic clades. The authors proposed a split into four genera: a more narrowly circumscribed ''Tibouchina'', two re-established genera ''Pleroma'' and ''

Chaetogastra ''Chaetogastra'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Melastomataceae. Its native range is South America and North America. It contains around 115 species. Description Species of ''Chaetogastra'' are herbs, subshrubs, shrubs or ...

'', and a new genus, ''Andesanthus''. The part of their maximum likelihood

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ...

which includes former ''Tibouchina'' species is as follows, using their genus names and with shading added to show the original broadly circumscribed ''Tibouchina'' s.l. (The relationship between ''Chaetogastra'' and the genus ''

Brachyotum ''Brachyotum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Melastomataceae. There are about 58 species native to the Andes of South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemi ...

'' differed between analyses.) ''Andesanthus'' is shown to be sister to either ''Chaetogastra'' or a clade combining ''Chaetogastra'' and ''Brachyotum''.

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 the following nine species: *'' Andesanthus aristeguietae'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *'' Andesanthus elegantulus'' (Todzia & Almeda) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''

Andesanthus gleasonianus ''Andesanthus gleasonianus'', synonym ''Tibouchina gleasoniana'', is a species of plant in the family Melastomataceae. It is native to Colombia and Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South Am ...

'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *'' Andesanthus inopinatus'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''

Andesanthus lepidotus ''Andesanthus lepidotus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Tibouchina lepidota'', also known as alstonville, Andean princess flower, lasiandra, or glory bush, is a medium-sized ornamental tree or a large shrub native to northwestern South America t ...

'' (Humb. & Bonpl.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''

Andesanthus narinoensis ''Andesanthus'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae, native to Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. The genus was established in 2019 for some species formerly placed in ''Tibouchina''. Some species ...

'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *'' Andesanthus paleaceus'' (Triana) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *'' Andesanthus silvestris'' (Todzia & Almeda) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *'' Andesanthus wurdackii'' (Almeda & Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang.

Distribution and habitat

''Andesanthus'' species are found in Central America (

and

) and northern South America (

and

). Most are found in the

. Two species are found in the mountains of Costa Rica and Panama. The largest number of species are found in Colombia. They grow in cool

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

s and along forest margins.

Cultivation

Some species of ''Andesanthus'' are cultivated as ornamental shrubs or trees. The

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 ...

'Alstonville' of ''Andesanthus lepidotus'' ( syn. ''Tibouchina lepidota'') was developed in

Alstonville, New South Wales Alstonville is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, part of the region known as the Northern Rivers. Alstonville is on the Bruxner Highway between the town of Ballina, New South Wales, Ballina (13 km to the east) and city of Lism ...

in Australia, where this species and its cultivars are popular cultivated plants.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q93745904 Melastomataceae Melastomataceae genera