''Vulcanoa'' is a

monospecific In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus of

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 ...

in the dogbane family that contains only the species ''Vulcanoa steyermarkii''. It is a

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

native to

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

and the Mexican state of

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

Description

''Vulcanoa steyermarkii'' is a woody vine with

trichomes Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

that lack glands and face backwards. The leaves of the plant are placed opposite each other on the stems. The blades are a narrow oval shape which taper to a point, and are covered in rust-colored hairs. The flower clusters are

cymes In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a main axis ( ped ...

with few flowers, and the flowers have bell-shaped corollas and concave coronas that are covered in fine hairs. The

fruits In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

are spindle-shaped and shaggy with dense prickles.

Taxonomy and etymology

The genus ''Vulcanoa'' was first described by Venezuelan botanist Gilberto Morillo in 2015. The name derives from the Greek fire god Vulcan, in reference to the habitat of ''Vulcanoa steyermarkii'' on volcanic mountains. It was created by splitting a single species, ''Matelea steyermarkii'', from the genus ''

Matelea ''Matelea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae. It contains about 200 species, which are commonly known as milkvines. Some people consider '' Chthamalia'' to be a synonym to or a subgenus of ''Matelea''. Species , Plants of ...

.'' The new genus was then placed in the subtribe Gonolobinae.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=, from=Q119138802 Apocynaceae Monotypic Apocynaceae genera Flora of Guatemala Flora of Southeastern Mexico Plants described in 1941