''Pteronia'' ("resin daisies") is a genus of
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...
, woody
perennial plant
In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...
s assigned to the family
Asteraceae
Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...
with currently 76 described species. Like in almost all Asteraceae, the individual flowers are
5-merous, small and clustered in typical heads, surrounded by an
involucre of
bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale.
Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...
s. In ''Pteronia'', the centre of the head is taken by relatively few, yellow,
disc florets, while a ring of ligulate florets is absent. These florets sit on a common base (or
receptacle).
Taxonomy
A species of Gombos was first described and assigned to the new genus ''Pteronia'' by the famous Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
in the second edition of his groundbreaking
Species Plantarum
' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...
, the starting point of modern botanical nomenclature, that was published in 1763. He had not seen living plants or
dried herbarium specimens, but based his description on an etching made by the English botanist
Leonard Plukenet in 1700. This etching probably represents ''
Pteronia camphorata'', which has been chosen as
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
of the genus. In 1917,
John Hutchinson and
Edwin Percy Phillips revised the genus and recognised 61 species.
Description
Gombos species are all evergreen, woody perennial plants of high that often contain aromatic substances. It mostly has hairless or variably hairy or
glandular, wand-like (or
virgate) branches, but sometimes the branches have wider angles (or
divaricate). The leaves are mostly arranged in a cross, in some in a spiral or alternate, and rarely
opposite and may also be hairless, variously hairy and glandular, or have a row of hairs around the margin.
Ecology
Gombos species can mostly be found in dry habitats.
Distribution
The species of ''Pteronia'' can be found in Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. About 50 species occur in the
Cape Floristic Region
The Cape Floral Region is a floristic region located near the southern tip of South Africa. It is the only floristic region of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, and includes only one floristic province, known as the Cape Floristic Province.
The Cap ...
, particularly in the
Succulent Karoo and to a lesser extend in the
Nama Karoo biome
A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...
s. In Namibia 24 species are found.
Species list
It contains the following species:
*''
Pteronia acuminata''
*''
Pteronia acuta''
*''
Pteronia adenocarpa''
*''
Pteronia ambrariifolia''
*''
Pteronia anisata''
*''
Pteronia aspalatha''
*''
Pteronia beckeoides''
*''
Pteronia bolusii''
*''
Pteronia callosa''
*''
Pteronia camphorata''
*''
Pteronia centauroides''
*''
Pteronia ciliata''
*''
Pteronia cinerea''
*''
Pteronia cylindracea''
*''
Pteronia diosmifolia''
*''
Pteronia divaricata''
*''
Pteronia eenii''
*''
Pteronia elata''
*''
Pteronia elongata''
*''
Pteronia empetrifolia''
*''
Pteronia erythrochaeta''
*''
Pteronia fasciculata'', Paraffienbos
*''
Pteronia fastigiata''
*''
Pteronia flexicaulis''
*''
Pteronia foleyi''
*''
Pteronia glabrata''
*''
Pteronia glauca'', Geelboegoekaroo
*''
Pteronia glaucescens''
*''
Pteronia glomerata''
*''
Pteronia gymnocline''
*''
Pteronia heterocarpa''
*''
Pteronia hirsuta''
*''
Pteronia hutchinsoniana''
*''
Pteronia incana
''Pteronia incana'' ("Asbos" or "ash-bush") is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, indigenous to the Karoo regions of South Africa.
Description
This species has small, light grey, woolly, fragrant leaves, and forms a low, de ...
'', Asbos
*''
Pteronia inflexa''
*''
Pteronia intermedia''
*''
Pteronia leptospermoides''
*''
Pteronia leucoclada''
*''
Pteronia leucoloma''
*''
Pteronia lucilioides''
*''
Pteronia membranacea''
*''
Pteronia mooreiana''
*''
Pteronia mucronata''
*''
Pteronia oblanceolata''
*''
Pteronia onobromoides'', Boegoebos
*''
Pteronia oppositifolia''
*''
Pteronia ovalifolia''
*''
Pteronia pallens'', Scholtzbos
*''
Pteronia paniculata'', Gombos
*''
Pteronia pillansii''
*''
Pteronia polygalifolia''
*''
Pteronia pomonae''
*''
Pteronia punctata''
*''
Pteronia quinqueflora''
*''
Pteronia rangei''
*''
Pteronia scabra''
*''
Pteronia scariosa''
*''
Pteronia smutsii''
*''
Pteronia sordida''
*''
Pteronia spinulosa''
*''
Pteronia stoehelinoides''
*''
Pteronia stricta''
*''
Pteronia succulenta''
*''
Pteronia tenuifolia
''Pteronia'' ("resin daisies") is a genus of evergreen, woody perennial plants assigned to the family Asteraceae with currently 76 described species. Like in almost all Asteraceae, the individual flowers are Merosity, 5-merous, small and clustere ...
''
*''
Pteronia teretifolia''
*''
Pteronia tricephala''
*''
Pteronia uncinata''
*''
Pteronia undulata''
*''
Pteronia unguiculata
''Pteronia'' ("resin daisies") is a genus of evergreen, woody perennial plants assigned to the family Asteraceae with currently 76 described species. Like in almost all Asteraceae, the individual flowers are 5-merous, small and clustered in typi ...
''
*''
Pteronia utilis''
*''
Pteronia villosa''
*''
Pteronia viscosa''
Gallery
File:Pteronia paniculata - Ashton - b.jpg, '' Pteronia paniculata'' ("Gombos")
File:2 Pteronia pallens - flower detail - Matjiesfontein.jpg, '' Pteronia pallens'' ("Scholtzbos")
File:Pteronia fasciculata - Paraffienbos detail.jpg, '' Pteronia fasciculata'' ("Paraffienbos")
File:Pteronia incana - Asbos detail.jpg, ''Pteronia incana
''Pteronia incana'' ("Asbos" or "ash-bush") is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, indigenous to the Karoo regions of South Africa.
Description
This species has small, light grey, woolly, fragrant leaves, and forms a low, de ...
'' ("Asbos")
File:Pteronia uncinata - Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens 1 - Copy.jpg, '' Pteronia uncinata''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q508116
Asteraceae genera
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot