Rovaeanthus Borhidi
Contenido
Descripción
Shrubs, erect, decumbent or scandent; young branchlets terete, sparsely antrorse-strigose, glabrescent. Stipules interpetiolar, erect, persistent or deciduous. Leaves opposite or ternate, those of the same pair equal, or subequal to anisophyllous, petiolate or subsessile; blades elliptic to ovate–elliptic, slightly cuneate, acute or obtuse at base, acuminate at apex, coriaceous or chartaceous, margins ciliolate, revolute or plane venation prominent on the abaxial surface, domatia absent. Inflorescences dichasial cymes or corymbs, or uniflorous, terminal or terminal on axillary branches, sessile or pedunculate. Flowers subsessile or pedicellate, distylous, 5-merous, fragrant. Hypanthium subglobose, or turbinate to obovoid. Calyx lobes equal or subequal. Corolla infundibuliform, red or pinkish when fresh, corolla mouth with a sparsely ring of yellow trichomes and with a conspicuous parenchymatic fleshy ring, sometimes the parenchymatic ring not conspicuous (in R. suffrutescens); corolla lobes imbricate, margins undulate.
Stamens partially exserted or included; anthers dorsifixed, linear-ellipsoid. Style glabrous, style branches 2, linear or ovoid. Ovary 2-locular, placentation axillary; with many ovules per locule. Fruits capsular, loculicidal. Seeds bicaudate or not caudate, fusiform, angular or polygonal.A
Stamens partially exserted or included; anthers dorsifixed, linear-ellipsoid. Style glabrous, style branches 2, linear or ovoid. Ovary 2-locular, placentation axillary; with many ovules per locule. Fruits capsular, loculicidal. Seeds bicaudate or not caudate, fusiform, angular or polygonal.A
Discusión taxonómica
Although both species grow in similar habitats they are not sympatric. The main morphological differences are clear; however genetic studies of Rovaeanthus are pending. Despite both species have been simultaneously included in phylogenetic studies (Rova et al. 2009; Manns & Bremer 2010), the objectives of these studies have been at generic level and therefore a population study is necessary to define genetic differentiation and gene flow among these species.A
Bibliografía
A. Torres-Montúfar, A. & Ochoterena, H. 2019: Taxonomic treatment of the Mesoamerican genus Rovaeanthus (Rondeletieae, Rubiaceae). – Phytotaxa, ser. 2, 403: 122-130. http://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.403.2.5