Bomarea

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Bomarea
Bomarea sp., southern EcuadorNote leaf bases twisted 180°
Bomarea sp., southern Ecuador
Note leaf bases twisted 180°
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Alstroemeriaceae
Genus: Bomarea
Species

Several, see text.

Bomarea is one of the two major genera in the plant family Alstroemeriaceae. Most occur in the Andes. Several species are occasionally found as garden plants.

It is essentially a twining version of their relatives in Alstroemeria, though some species stand freely upright.

Perhaps the most fascinating — and telltale — morphological trait of most if not all Alstroemeriaceae is the fact that the leaves are resupinate: they twist from the base so that what appears to be the upper leaf surface is in fact the lower leaf surface.

[edit] Selected species