Donatia

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Donatia
Donatia novae-zelandiae
Donatia novae-zelandiae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Stylidiaceae
Subfamily: Donatioideae
Mildbr. 1908
Genus: Donatia
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. 1775
Species

Donatia fascicularis
Donatia novae-zelandiae

Donatia is a genus of two cushion plant species in the family Stylidiaceae. Donatia is in the subfamily Donatioideae, which was described by Johannes Mildbraed in his 1908 taxonomic monograph of the family. The subfamily was created to distinguish the difference between the single genus Donatia from the five typical genera of the Stylidiaceae that Mildbraed placed in the Stylidioideae subfamily.[1] The subfamily taxonomy represents the taxonomic uncertainty of Donatia, which has often been placed in its own family, Donatiaceae, or other families such as the Saxifragaceae.[2][3] Donatia differs sufficiently from other genera in the Stylidiaceae in that it has free stamens and petals, paracytic stomata, and a pollen morphology distinct from the other genera. Because of this, some researchers have placed Donatia in Donatiaceae and one even separated it from Stylidiaceae in his taxonomic system.[4] The APG II system recommends the inclusion of Donatia in Stylidiaceae but allows for the optional recognition of the family Donatiaceae. The two species in the genus represent a wide geographic range. D. novae-zelandiae is found in the alpine and subalpine regions of New Zealand and Tasmania while D. fascicularis is native to similar habitats in southern South America to latitude 40°S.[2]

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[edit] References

  1. ^ Mildbraed, J. (1908). Stylidiaceae. In Engler, A. Das Pflanzenreich: Regni vegetabilis conspectus, IV. 278. Leipzig, 1908.
  2. ^ a b Wagstaff, S.J. and Wege, J. (2002). Patterns of diversification in New Zealand Stylidiaceae. American Journal of Botany, 89(5): 865-874.
  3. ^ Good, R. (1925). On the geographical distribution of the Stylidiaceae. New Phytologist, 24(4): 225-240.
  4. ^ Laurent, N., Bremer, B., and Bremer, K. (1999). Phylogeny and generic interrelationships of the Stylidiaceae (Asterales), with a possible extreme case of floral paedomorphosis. Systematic Botany, 23(3): 289-304.