''Comesperma'' 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
shrub
A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...
s,
herb
Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...
s and
liana
A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...
s in the family
Polygalaceae
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in on ...
. The genus is endemic to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It was defined by the French botanist
Jacques Labillardière
Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (28 October 1755 – 8 January 1834) was a French biologist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the Jean-François de Galaup, comte ...
in his 1806 work ''
Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen
''Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen'' is a two-volume work describing the flora of Australia. Facsimiles of the originals can be found in the onlinBiodiversity Heritage Library (Vol.1)anVol 2)
The author was the French botanist Jacques Labillar ...
''.
The genus name is derived from the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
words ''come'' ("hair") and ''sperma'' ("seed"), and relates to the seeds bearing tufts of hair. The genus is distributed over southern Australia, particularly in the southwest of Western Australia,
where 19 species are found. 24 species have been described.
The genus was classified in the tribe Polygaleae by Swiss botanist
Robert Hippolyte Chodat
Robert Hippolyte Chodat (4 June 1865, Moutier – 28 April 1934) was a Swiss botanist and phycologist who was a professor and director of the botanical institute at the University of Geneva.
He studied medicine and botany at Geneva, where he was ...
in 1896. It was also considered a section of the genus ''
Bredemeyera'' by van Steenis in 1968. This was not adopted widely, and a cladistic study based on morphology published in 1993 suggested they remain as separate genera. This analysis placed ''Comersperma'' basal to a group comprising the genera ''Polygala'', ''
Monnina'' subg. ''Monninopsis'', ''
Nylandtia'', ''
Muralita'' and ''
Epirixanthes''.
They are generally small shrubs, climbers or trailing plants, with small to vestigial leaves arranged alternately on the stem. The flowers resemble those of pea-flowers, and are borne in
raceme
A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...
s. They are generally pink through shades of purple to blue in colour, although yellow-flowered species are known.
[ Although the flowers are smaller than those of the related genus '']Polygala
''Polygala'' is a large genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae. They are commonly known as milkworts or snakeroots. The genus is distributed widely throughout much of the world[floriferous
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