''Geogenanthus'' is a genus of plants with 3 species in the family

Commelinaceae Commelinaceae is a family of flowering plants. In less formal contexts, the group is referred to as the dayflower family or spiderwort family. It is one of five families in the order Commelinales and by far the largest of these with about 731 kn ...

(the spiderwort and dayflower family). The genus is distributed from

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 ...

to Amazonian

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

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Two of its species (''Geogenanthus ciliatus'' and ''

Geogenanthus poeppigii ''Geogenanthus poeppigii'', commonly called the seersucker plant, is a flowering plant species in the family ''Commelinaceae'' (the dayflower & spiderwort family). As currently circumscribed, the genus ''Geogenanthus'' includes two other species ...

'') are occasionally found in the horticultural trade as house plants.

Systematics

''Geogenanthus'' is a member of the subtribe

Dichorisandrinae Dichorisandrinae is a subtribe within the tribe Tradescantieae of the flowering plant family Commelinaceae. It consists of 5 genera and around 51 species. The subtribe represents a diverse assemblage native to tropical South America and a conti ...

of the tribe

Tradescantieae The Tradescantieae are a tribe of plants in the family Commelinaceae erected by Carl Meissner in 1842. Many genera originate from the Americas, but those in subtribes Coleotrypinae, Cyanotinae, Palisotinae and Streptoliriinae are Asian or Af ...

of the flowering plant family

Morphology

Aerial shoots unbranched and determinate in length, up to 0.75 m, with a terminal rosette of leaves. The leaves at lower nodes mere tubular leaf sheaths. All plant parts somewhat succulent. In the wild, plants grow on the floor of primary

rainforests Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

and possess a shallow underground, short, branching rhizome. Unlike its closest relatives in the family, ''

Cochliostema ''Cochliostema'' is a genus of plants with two species in the family Commelinaceae (the spiderwort and dayflower family). The genus occurs from southern Nicaragua to southern Ecuador. Systematics ''Cochliostema'' is a member of the subtribe Dic ...

'' and '' Plowmanianthus'',Hardy CR .2001. Systematics of ''Cochliostema'', ''Geogenanthus'', and an undescribed genus in the spiderwort family, Commelinaceae. PhD Dissertation, Cornell University, Itaca, NY, USA. its roots are both tuberous (although weakly so) and actually penetrate the soil. Flowers consist of 3 green-brown sepals, 3 blue, pink or purple petals fringed with moniliform hairs, 4-6 stamens - the posterior three of which may be bearded with monilifiorm hairs, and 3 connate carpels. Its flowers have no fragrance detectable by the human nose.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5535029 Commelinaceae Commelinaceae genera