''Jovellana'' 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 ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Calceolariaceae Calceolariaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that has been recently segregated from Scrophulariaceae. The family includes three genera, '' Calceolaria'', '' Porodittia'', and '' Jovellana'', but analysis suggests that th ...

. It was formerly included in

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

, and is still listed by some authorities as belonging there. However, recent molecular research indicates that the family Scrophulariaceae was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

, meaning that it contained more than one lineage with different parents. So several of its genera - including ''Jovellana'' - have been split off and assigned to new or existing families.

History

During the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

epoch, the climate of the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

was said to be

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

. It started to cool down during the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

and

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. This may have allowed the

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 ...

n elements of the ''Jovellana'' genus to establish their characteristics by long distance dispersal. The South American and New Zealand clades are believed to have split 4.1 Ma and both New Zealand and South American species are believed to have diverged from one another about 1.0 Ma.

Description

''Jovellana'' currently contains six to eight species of mainly

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

s native to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

. They have simple leaves and, in summer, nodding sprays of single, two-lipped, bell-shaped flowers in shades of white, lilac and purple, heavily spotted with a contrasting colour inside. The following species are currently included: *'' Jovellana guentheri'' (Chile) *'' Jovellana punctata'' (Chile) *'' Jovellana repens'' (New Zealand) *'' Jovellana sinclairii'' (New Zealand) *'' Jovellana violacea'' (Chile)

Distribution

Authorities have commented on the disjunct nature of the two populations in Chile and New Zealand. However, this is not unique. ''

Fuchsia ''Fuchsia'' ( ) is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. Almost 110 species of ''Fuchsia'' are recognized; the vast majority are native to South America, but a few occur north through Central America to Mex ...

'' is another genus with species apparently randomly segregated between Central and South America, New Zealand and Tahiti.

Cultivation

At least three species are cultivated as ornamental garden plants. They are frost-hardy down to , but in cultivation they require a sheltered position in full sun. ''Jovellana violacea'', growing to tall by broad, is a semi-evergreen

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often interch ...

with lilac coloured flowers, internally spotted with purple on a yellow background. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

Gallery

File:Jovellana punctata 001.jpg, ''Jovellana punctata'' File:Jovellana sinclairii kz4.jpg, ''J. sinclairii'' - leaf File:Jovellana violacea (17966578828).jpg, ''Jovellana violacea'' File:Jovellana violacea (8425622546).jpg, ''Jovellana violacea'' File:Jovellana repens on a bank.png, Jovellana repens's growth form

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q133429 Flora of Chile Flora of New Zealand Lamiales Lamiales genera Taxa named by José Antonio Pavón Jiménez Taxa named by Hipólito Ruiz López