''Chaetogastra'' is a genus of

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 ...

s belonging to 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 ...

. Its native range is South America and North America. It contains around 115 species.

Description

Species of ''Chaetogastra'' are herbs, subshrubs, shrubs or small trees. Their leaves are opposite and have petioles. 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 one. The flowers are

hypogynous 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-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 ...

(base of the flower), usually very hairy (pubescent) on the outside. There are four or five

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, usually dark lilac to purple, more rarely white, yellow or deep red. There are eight or 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 which may be all the same or in two series of different sizes. The connectives at the base of the anthers are prolonged, with two ventral lobes. The numerous seeds are borne in a dry, semiwoody capsule, and are more-or-less spiral (cochleate) in shape.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Chaetogastra'' was established by

Augustin de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss people, Swiss botany, botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple ...

in 1828. 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 ''

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 ...

'', transferring into it species at that time placed in many other genera, including ''Chaetogastra''. This broad concept was generally adopted subsequently, and around 470 taxa were at one time or another assigned to ''Tibouchina'', including those placed in ''Chaetogastra''. 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 Cell nucleus, nuclear regions) showed that the traditional circumscription of ''Tibouchina'' was paraphyletic. Four major clades were resolved within the genus, which were supported by morphological, molecular and geographic evidence. A further Molecular phylogenetics, molecular phylogenetic 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 (plant), Pleroma'' and ''Chaetogastra'', and a new genus, ''Andesanthus''. The part of their maximum likelihood cladogram 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'' differed between analyses.) ''Chaetogastra'' is shown either to be sister to ''Andesanthus'' or to be part of a clade combining ''Chaetogastra'' and ''Brachyotum''. The authors preferred to keep these two genera separate, as they were in their Bayesian inference analysis.

Species

, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species: *''Chaetogastra adenophora'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra alata'' P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra almedae'' (Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra anderssonii'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra andreana'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra araneicalyx'' (de Santiago) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra arthrostemmoides'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra asperifolia'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra aurea'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra brittoniana'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra campii'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra capitata'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra cerastifolia'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra chamaecistus'' Griseb. *''Chaetogastra chironioides'' Griseb. *''Chaetogastra ciliaris'' (Vent.) DC. *''Chaetogastra cisplatensis'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra cistoides'' Griseb. *''Chaetogastra citrina'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra clinopodifolia'' DC. *''Chaetogastra confertiflora'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra congestiflora'' (Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra connata'' (Gleason ex Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra cordeiroi'' F.S.Mey. & R.Goldenb. *''Chaetogastra cornuta'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra crassifolia'' F.S.Mey. & R.Goldenb. *''Chaetogastra cristaensis'' F.S.Mey. & R.Goldenb. *''Chaetogastra debilis'' Cham. *''Chaetogastra decora'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra dimorphylla'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra durangensis'' (Standl.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra echinata'' (Ruiz & Pav.) DC. *''Chaetogastra erioclada'' (Triana) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra excoriata'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra ferrariana'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra fulvipilis'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra galeottiana'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra gayana'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra geitneriana'' Schltdl. *''Chaetogastra gracilis'' (Bonpl.) DC. *''Chaetogastra grossa'' (L.f.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra hassleri'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra herbacea'' (DC.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra herincquiana'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra herzogii'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra hieracioides'' DC. *''Chaetogastra hintonii'' (Gleason ex Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra hutchisonii'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra incarum'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra kingii'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra kunhardtii'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra laevis'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra lancifolia'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra latebracteolata'' (Paul G.Wilson) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra latifolia'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra laxa'' (Desr.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra longifolia'' (Vahl) DC. *''Chaetogastra longipilosa'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra longisepala'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra longistyla'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra macvaughii'' (Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra mariae'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra membranifolia'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra minor'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra mollis'' (DC.) DC. *''Chaetogastra monticola'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra nanifolia'' (Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra naudiniana'' Decne. *''Chaetogastra nitida'' (Graham) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra obtusifolia'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra oligantha'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra orbignyana'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra oroensis'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra panicularis'' Naudin *''Chaetogastra paratropica'' (Griseb.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra parviflora'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra patens'' (Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra pauciflora'' P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra pendula'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra pentamera'' (Ule) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra pleromoides'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra pulcherrima'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra purpurascens'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra purpusii'' (Brandegee) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra repens'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra rhynchantherifolia'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra riograndensis'' F.S.Mey. *''Chaetogastra rojasii'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra roseotincta'' (Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra rufipilis'' (Schltdl.) Walp. *''Chaetogastra rupestris'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra rusbyi'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra sandiensis'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra saxicola'' (F.S.Mey., P.J.F.Guim. & R.Goldenb.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra saxosa'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra scabriuscula'' (Schltdl.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra schiedeana'' (Schltdl. & Cham.) Walp. *''Chaetogastra sebastianopolitana'' (Raddi) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra sericea'' (de Santiago) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra simplicicaulis'' (Naudin) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra sinaloensis'' (Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra solmsii'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra stenopetala'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra stenophylla'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra tetrapetala'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra thulia'' (Todzia) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra tortuosa'' (Bonpl.) DC. *''Chaetogastra triflora'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra trinitensis'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra urbanii'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra venosa'' (Gleason) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra versicolor'' (Lindl.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra violacea'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra wasshausenii'' (Wurdack) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. *''Chaetogastra weberbaueri'' (Cogn.) P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang.

Distribution and habitat

The species of ''Chaetogastra'' are native from Mexico through Central America and the West Indies into the Andes of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. They are also found in eastern Brazil. The Andes are the centre of diversity. Most are found in cloud forests above 1,000 m elevation, although some herbaceous species are found in open areas above 100 m.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q42808113 Chaetogastra, Melastomataceae genera