Cosmocalyx

Cosmocalyx
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Cinchonoideae
Tribe: Hamelieae
Genus: Cosmocalyx
Standley
Species

Cosmocalyx spectabilis

Cosmocalyx is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It has only one species, Cosmocalyx spectabilis.[1] It is rare, and endemic to the Mexican states of Quintana Roo and Yucatán.[2]

Cosmocalyx was named by Paul Standley in 1930.[3][4] The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek words, kosmos, meaning "beautiful", and kalyx, "a calyx".[5]

Cosmocalyx spectabilis is a slender tree, up to 15 m (49 ft) in height and 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter (dbh). After anthesis, one of the four calyx lobes expands into a reddish, leaf-like structure called a calycophyll. These facilitate dispersal of the fruit by wind. The fruit is a cylindrical indehiscent bilocular capsule. Each locule contains one basally inserted seed. This combination of characters distinguishes Cosmocalyx from other genera in Rubiaceae.[2]

Cosmocalyx is placed with Deppea, Hoffmannia, Hamelia and several other genera in the tribe Hamelieae.[6] Relationships within this tribe are uncertain.

References

  1. ^ Cosmocalyx At: World Checklist of Rubiaceae At: Kew Gardens Website. (see External links below).
  2. ^ a b Piero G. Delprete. 1998. "Notes on calycophyllous Rubiaceae. Part III. Systematic position of the monotypic Mexican genus Cosmocalyx and notes on the calycophyll development". Brittonia 50(3):309-317.
  3. ^ Cosmocalyx in International Plant Names Index. (see External links below).
  4. ^ Cosmocalyx page 56. In: Paul C. Standley. 1930. "Studies of American Plants – III". Field Museum of Natural History. Botanical series. 8(1):3-73. (see External links below).
  5. ^ Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names volume I. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington,DC;, USA. London, UK. ISBN 978-0-8493-2675-2 (vol. I). (see External links below).
  6. ^ Ulrika Manns and Birgitta Bremer. 2010. "Towards a better understanding of intertribal relationships and stable tribal delimitations within Cinchonoideae s.s. (Rubiaceae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56(1):21-39. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.04.002

External links