''Axinaea'' is a genus of flowering plants 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 ...

. As of 2012, there are at least 42 species.Bussmann, R. W., & Zambrana, N. P. (2012)
''Axinaea ninakurorum'' (Melastomataceae)− a new species from the northern Peruvian Merianeae hotspot.
''Arnaldoa'' 19(1) 23-27. They are small trees and shrubs. They are native to the Americas; almost all are found 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 ...

.Bussmann, R. W., Gruhn, J., & Glenn, A. (2010)
''Axinaea fernando-cabiesii'' and ''A. reginae'' spp. nov.(Melastomataceae) from upper Amazonia of Peru, with notes on the conservation status of ''A. flava''.
''Nordic Journal of Botany'', 28(5), 518-522. Plants of this genus are

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 ...

when birds, several species of fruit-eating

tanager The tanagers (singular ) comprise the bird family (biology), family Thraupidae, in the order Passeriformes. The family has a Neotropical distribution and is the second-largest family of birds. It represents about 4% of all avian species and 12 ...

s, consume specialized appendages on the

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. As they grasp the nutritious appendages, a cloud of pollen is released. This has been called "puff pollination".Dellinger, A. S., et al. (2014)
A specialized bird pollination system with a bellows mechanism for pollen transfer and staminal food body rewards.
''Current Biology'', 24(14), 1615-19. Species include:

References

Melastomataceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by José Antonio Pavón Jiménez Taxa named by Hipólito Ruiz López {{Melastomataceae-stub