The Gesnerioideae are a subfamily of plants in the family

Gesneriaceae Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World (almost all Didymocarpoideae) and the New World (most Ges ...

: based on the type genus ''

Gesneria ''Gesneria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. It contains 62 species which are native to islands of the Caribbean. The genus is classified in the tribe Gesnerieae along with the genera '' Bellonia'', '' Pheidonocarpa'', ...

''. Although genera typically originate in the New World, some species have become widely distributed as ornamental plants.

Description

Gesnerioideae is one of two main subfamilies in the Gesneriaceae, the other being

Didymocarpoideae The Didymocarpoideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Gesneriaceae. It was formerly the subfamily Cyrtandroideae. This subfamily consists mostly of Tropics, tropical and Subtropics, subtropical Old World genera, found in Africa, Asia and ...

. (The third subfamily, Sanangoideae, contains only the genus '' Sanango''.) Gesnerioideae seedlings have normal

cotyledon A cotyledon ( ; ; "a cavity, small cup, any cup-shaped hollow", gen. (), ) is a "seed leaf" – a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant – and is formally defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or mor ...

s of the same size and shape (isocotylous), whereas the cotyledons of Didymocarpoideae are usually, but not always, eventually different in size and shape (anisocotylous). Gesnerioideae flowers usually have four fertile

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, rarely two or five. In other respects, Gesnerioideae species are very variable. The

ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...

may be superior, semi-inferior or inferior, and the fruit takes various forms.

Taxonomy

The original use of the name for the subfamily is attributed to Gilbert Thomas Burnett in 1835. Burnett divided his

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: * Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthr ...

of the family Gesneriaceae into "Besleridae" and "Gesneridae". The latter was distinguished by having an inferior or semi-inferior

and the calyx adhering to the

gynoecium Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...

("germen"). However, Burnett's circumscription of the family and subfamilies was very different to the modern conception. He placed the "Didymocarpidae" (a name which corresponds to the modern Didymocarpoideae), not in Gesneriaceae, but in

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...

. Since about 1997, phylogenetic studies, mostly based on molecular approaches, have resulted in major changes to the traditional taxonomy and classification of the family Gesneriaceae, at every level from genus upwards.

Tribes and genera

A classification published in 2020 divides the subfamily into five tribes. * Tribe Titanotricheae * '' Titanotrichum'' * Tribe Napeantheae * '' Napeanthus'' * Tribe Beslerieae * '' Anetanthus'' * ''

Besleria ''Besleria'' is a genus of large herbs and soft-stemmed subshrubs or shrubs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. It includes 176 species native to tropical southern Mexico, Central America, South America, and the West Indies. The closely ...

'' * '' Cremosperma'' * ''

Cremospermopsis ''Cremospermopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Gesneriaceae Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropic ...

'' * ''

Gasteranthus ''Gasteranthus'' is a genus of 35 species of herbs and soft-stemmed subshrubs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. The species occur in Central America and South America, from southernmost Mexico to Bolivia.Weber & Skog (2007) Numerous spe ...

'' * '' Reldia'' * '' Resia'' * ''

Shuaria ''Shuaria'' is a genus of arborescent flowering plants belonging to the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is solely represented by ''Shuaria ecuadorica'' D.A.Neill & J.L.Clark, endemic to Ecuador. The generic name refers to the Shuar indigenous gro ...

'' * ''

Tylopsacas ''Tylopsacas'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Gesneriaceae. It includes a single species, ''Tylopsacas cuneata'', which is native to Guyana and southern Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of V ...

'' * Tribe Coronanthereae * ''

Asteranthera ''Asteranthera'' is a monotypic plant genus in the family Gesneriaceae, native to the humid temperate forests of Argentina and Chile. The sole species in the genus, ''Asteranthera ovata'', is an evergreen scrambling vine A vine is any plan ...

'' * ''

Coronanthera ''Coronanthera'' is a genus of shrubs in the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is found in New Caledonia and Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 ...

'' * ''

Depanthus ''Depanthus'' is a genus of shrubs in the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is endemic to New Caledonia in the Pacific and contains two species. It is related to ''Negria ''Negria'' is a plant genus in the family Gesneriaceae. Its only specie ...

'' * '' Fieldia'', including ''Lenbrassia'' * ''

Mitraria ''Mitraria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, comprising the sole species ''Mitraria coccinea'' (Chilean mitre flower). It is a woody climbing plant, distributed across Central and South Chile and South Argentina ...

'' * ''

Negria ''Negria'' is a plant genus in the family Gesneriaceae. Its only species is ''Negria rhabdothamnoides'', commonly known as the pumpkin tree. It is related to '' Fieldia'' (syn. ''Lenbrassia'') and '' Depanthus''. Description The pumpkin tree ...

'' * '' Rhabdothamnus'' * '' Sarmienta'' * Tribe Gesnerieae * '' Achimenes'' * '' Alloplectus'' * ''

Alsobia ''Alsobia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. It contains four species. The species in the genus are succulent and stoloniferous herb Herbs are a widely distributed and wi ...

'' * '' Amalophyllon'' * '' Bellonia'' * '' Centrosolenia'' * '' Chautemsia'' * '' Christopheria'' * ''

Chrysothemis In Greek mythology, Chrysothemis or Khrysothemis (; , "golden law") is a name ascribed to several female characters in Greek mythology. * Chrysothemis, daughter of Carmator and the first winner of the oldest contest held at the Pythian Games, ...

'' * '' Cobananthus'' * ''

Codonanthe ''Codonanthe'' is a genus of mainly epiphytic plants in the family Gesneriaceae, endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. The botanical name comes from the Ancient Greek for 'bellflower'. They have white or pale pink flowers and somewhat flesh ...

'' * ''

Codonanthopsis ''Codonanthopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. Its native range is from southern Mexico through tropical America to Bolivia and most of Brazil. ''Codonanthopsis'' species are generally trailing epiphytes with pale ...

'' * ''

Columnea ''Columnea'' is a genus of around 200 species of epiphytic herbs and shrubs in the family Gesneriaceae, native to the tropics of the Americas and the Caribbean. The tubular or oddly shaped flowers are usually large and brightly colored – us ...

'' * '' Corytoplectus'' * '' Crantzia'' * '' Cremersia'' * ''

Diastema A diastema (: diastemata, from Greek , 'space') is a space or gap between two teeth. Many species of mammals have diastemata as a normal feature, most commonly between the incisors and molars. More colloquially, the condition may be referred to ...

'' * '' Drymonia'' * ''

Episcia ''Episcia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the African violet family, Gesneriaceae. The ten species it contains are native to the tropical regions of Central and South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western He ...

'' * '' Eucodonia'' * ''

'' * '' Glossoloma'' * '' Gloxinella'' * '' Gloxinia'' * '' Gloxiniopsis'' * '' Goyazia'' * '' Heppiella'' * '' Kohleria'' * '' Lampadaria'' * '' Lembocarpus'' * ''

Lesia Lesia is a feminine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Lesia Dychko (born 1939), Ukrainian music educator and composer *Lesia Liss (born 1966), American politician *Lesia Tsurenko (born 1989), Ukrainian tennis player *Lesia Valadzen ...

'' * '' Mandirola'' * '' Monopyle'' * '' Moussonia'' * ''

Nautilocalyx ''Nautilocalyx'' is a genus of plants in the family Gesneriaceae. Its native range stretches from Costa Rica to southern Tropical America and to Trinidad. It is also found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, ...

'' * ''

Nematanthus ''Nematanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. All of its species are endemic to Brazil. Compared to other gesneriads, ''Nematanthus'' has leaves that are small, succulent, and hard-surfaced. The plant has a trailing ...

'' * '' Neomortonia'' * '' Niphaea'' * '' Nomopyle'' * '' Oerstedina'' * '' Pachycaulos'' * '' Pagothyra'' * '' Paliavana'' * '' Paradrymonia'' * '' Pearcea'' * '' Pheidonocarpa'' * '' Phinaea'' * '' Rhoogeton'' * '' Rhytidophyllum'' * '' Rufodorsia'' * '' Seemannia'' * ''

Sinningia ''Sinningia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. It is named after Wilhelm Sinning (1792–1874), a gardener of the Botanische Gärten der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. There are about 65 species of tuberous her ...

'' * '' Smithiantha'' * '' Solenophora'' * '' Sphaerorrhiza'' * '' Trichodrymonia'' * '' Vanhouttea'' File:Achimenes cettoana in cultivation.jpg, '' Achimenes cettoana'' in cultivation File:Chrysothemis pulchella (Boltz Conservatory).JPG, '' Chrysothemis pulchella'' in cultivation File:Codonanthe macradenia kz01.jpg, '' Codonanthopsis macradenia'' in cultivation File:2006-11-06Columnea 14.jpg, ''

Columnea crassifolia ''Columnea crassifolia'' is a species of Gesneriaceae that is native to Honduras and Mexico. References External links

* * Columnea, crassifolia Plants described in 1844 Flora of Mexico Taxa named by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart {{G ...

'' File:Gloxinia perennis 08.JPG, '' Gloxinia perennis'' File:Mitraria coccinea 1.jpg, '' Mitraria coccinea'' File:Nematanthuswettsteinii1.jpg, ''

Nematanthus wettsteinii ''Nematanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. All of its species are endemic to Brazil. Compared to other gesneriads, ''Nematanthus'' has leaves that are small, succulent, and hard-surfaced. The plant has a trailing ...

'' File:Rhabdothamnus_solandri_11.JPG, ''

Rhabdothamnus solandri ''Rhabdothamnus solandri'' is a small shrub of the family Gesneriaceae endemic to New Zealand. It is the only plant of the genus ''Rhabdothamnus'', and the only member of Gesneriaceae native to New Zealand. Its common names are New Zealand gloxi ...

'' File:Sarmienta scandens (8625529802).jpg, '' Sarmienta scandens'' File:Sinningia speciosa-IMG 0659.JPG, ''

Sinningia speciosa ''Sinningia speciosa'', sometimes known in the horticultural trade as gloxinia, is a Tuber, tuberous member of the flowering plant native to Brazil within the family Gesneriaceae. Originally included in the genus ''Gloxinia (genus), Gloxinia'' i ...

'' File:Temple Bells (Smithiantha cinnabarina) (3104111584).jpg, '' Smithiantha cinnabarina''

Distribution

With the exception of the genus '' Titanotrichum'', which is native to eastern Asia, all the species of the subfamily Gesnerioideae are native from Central and

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 ...

through the southwest

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

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 ...

References

External links

* * {{taxonbar, from=Q5879032 Flora of Southern America Gesnerioideae Asterid subfamilies