''Galphimia gracilis'', a species in the genus '' Galphimia'' of the family

Malpighiaceae Malpighiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. It comprises about 73 genera and 1315 species, all of which are native to the tropics and subtropics. About 80% of the genera and 90% of the species occur in the New World ( ...

, is native to eastern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is widely cultivated in warm regions throughout the world, often under the common names gold shower or shower-of-gold, slender goldshower or sometimes thryallis.

Description

''Galphimia gracilis'' is easily told apart from the true ''G. glauca'' and ''G. brasiliensis'' by the flowers. In ''G. gracilis'' the petals fall as the fruit matures; in ''G. glauca'' the petals are persistent even in fruit. In ''G. gracilis'' many flowers of a dense

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 ...

are open at one time, and the petals (claw and limb) are long and wide; in ''G. brasiliensis'' only two or three small flowers are open at one time on a sparse inflorescence, and the petals are only long and ca. wide. Pollens are spherical, approximately 16-18 microns in diameter.

Similar species

horticultural Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

publications, in the nursery trade, and on websites, this species is commonly but mistakenly referred to as '' Galphimia glauca'', '' Galphimia brasiliensis'', ''Thryallis glauca'', ''Thryallis gracilis'', or often in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, ''Thryallis brasiliensis''.

Gallery

Galphimia-gracilis-photo 2019-05-25 11-10-21.jpg, Pollens of Galphimia gracilis Galphimia gracilis 9zz.jpg, Shrub Starr 080117-1999 Galphimia gracilis.jpg, Flowers Galphimia gracilis 4zz.jpg, Full bloom Galphimia glauca (2078794804).jpg, Panicles

External links and reference

Malpighiaceae
Malpighiaceae - description, taxonomy, phylogeny, and nomenclature

*Anderson, C. 2007. Revision of ''Galphimia'' (Malpighiaceae). Contributions from the University of Michigan Herbarium 25: 1–82. Malpighiaceae {{Malpighiaceae-stub