''Manekia'' 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 ...

of flowering plants in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Piperaceae The Piperaceae (), also known as the pepper family, are a large family (biology), family of flowering plants. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in five genera. The vast majority of species can be found within the two mai ...

. It is distributed across disjunct areas in the southern Atlantics Forests of Brazil, the Guiana shield in Venezuela, the Andean regions of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles. It thrives in

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

areas, and in humid, premontane or montane forests from sea level to . The name ''Manekia'' is a taxonomic anagram derived from the name of the genus '' Ekmania''. The latter name is a taxonomic patronym honoring the Swedish botanist

Erik Leonard Ekman Erik Leonard Ekman was a Swedish botanist and explorer. Biography Erik Leonard Ekman was born into a low-income household with five children on October 14, 1883. Due to economic difficulties, the family moved to the central-Swedish town of Jön ...

Description

''Manekia'' members are characterized by

scandent A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Day ...

or lianescent habits and by short sympodial branches holding the spikes. Flowers possess four stamens, four-carpellate pistils with four or five stigmas. Berries are fully or partially immersed in the rachis. When compared to other Piperaceae genera, the ecology of ''Manekia'' appears rather distinct, with plants invading forest litter, forming large mats of reptant stems, and eventually colonizing nearby

phorophyte In botany, phorophytes are plants on which epiphytes grow. The term is composed of ''phoro'', meaning bearer or carrier and ''phyte'', meaning plant. Commensalistic interactions The epiphytes benefit from the habitats provided, but the phoroph ...

s, reaching the

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

, and often forming large masses on the top before blooming.

Phylogeny

''Manekia'' is the

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to ''

Zippelia ''Zippelia begoniifolia'' is the only species of the monotypic genus ''Zippelia'', a genus of plants in the Piperaceae, the same botanical family as that of black pepper. The species has also been spelled as ''Z. begoniaefolia''. It is an erect, ...

'', and both genera are sister to a clade including '' Piper'' and ''

Peperomia ''Peperomia'' is one of the two large genera of the family Piperaceae. It is estimated that there are at least over 1,000 species, occurring in all tropical and subtropical regions of the world. They are concentrated in South and Central America, ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15933093 Piperales genera Piperaceae Taxa named by William Trelease