''Heliosperma'' is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s in the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactace ...

. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''

Silene ''Silene'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Containing nearly 900 species, it is the largest genus in the family. Common names include campion and catchfly. Many ''Silene'' species are widely distributed, particularl ...

'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority of the species are narrow

endemics Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

from the

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whol ...

, but '' H. alpestre'' is endemic to the

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in t ...

, and '' H. pusillum'' is found from the in northern Spain to the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The ...

. Like members of the genus ''Silene'' and other related genera, ''Heliosperma'' is attacked by species of the anther

smut Smut may refer to: * Smut (fungus), a group of plant parasitic fungi * ''Smut'' (comics), an adult British comic title dating back to the 1980s * A colloquial term for obscenity in general or pornography Pornography (often shortened to po ...

fungus ''

Microbotryum ''Microbotryum'' is a genus of fungi found in the family Microbotryaceae. It contains 89 species. Species *'' Microbotryum adenopetalae'' *''Microbotryum afromontanum'' *'' Microbotryum ahmadianum'' *'' Microbotryum alsines'' *'' Microbotryu ...

''. Cases of parallel divergence events between alpine and mountain populations have been reported in this genus.

Species

Around 15 species are currently recognised in the genus: *'' Heliosperma albanicum'' K.Malý *'' Heliosperma alpestre'' Rchb. – Eastern Alps *'' Heliosperma chromodontum'' Rohrb. – Greece *'' Heliosperma insulare'' Trinajstić – Croatia *'' Heliosperma intonsum'' (Greuter & Melzh.) Niketić & Stevan. – Greece *''

Heliosperma macranthum ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus '' Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The major ...

'' Pančić *''

Heliosperma monachorum ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' Vis. & Pančić *''

Heliosperma nikolicii ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' (A.Seliger & Wraber) Niketić & Stevan. – Kosovo *''

Heliosperma oliverae ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus ''Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The majority ...

'' Niketić & Stevan. – Montenegro *'' Heliosperma pudibundum'' Griseb. *'' Heliosperma pusillum'' Vis. – NW Spain, Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians *''

Heliosperma retzdorffianum ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus '' Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The major ...

'' Maly – Bosnia and Herzegovina *''

Heliosperma tommasinii ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus '' Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The major ...

'' Vis. – Montenegro, Albania *'' Heliosperma vandasii'' Neumayer – Macedonia *''

Heliosperma veselskyi ''Heliosperma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. As such, it is closely related to the large genus '' Silene'', but its members can be told apart from ''Silene'' by the crest of long papillae on the seeds. The major ...

'' Janka – Slovenia

References

External links

* * Caryophyllaceae genera Taxa named by Ludwig Reichenbach {{Caryophyllaceae-stub

Species

References

Further reading

External links