Trimezia

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Trimezia
Trimezia steyermarkii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Iridaceae
Subfamily: Iridoideae
Tribe: Trimezieae
Genus: Trimezia
Salisbury ex Herbert
Type species
Trimezia meridensis
Herbert
Species

See text

Wikispecies has information related to: Trimezia
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Trimezia.

Trimezia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to the warmer parts of Central America, South America, and the West Indies. The genus name is derived from the Greek words tri, meaning "three", and meze, meaning "greater".[1]

Description

Trimezia is a small genus found in tropical regions of Central and South America and the West Indies, where they typically grow in damp grassland. The rootstock is variously described as an elongated corm or a rhizome. Plants vary in height from about 7 cm (2.8 in) in the case of T. pusilla to 1.6 m (5.2 ft) in the case of T. spathata subsp. sincorana. Linear to lanceolate leaves grow from the base of the plant. Most species have flowers in some shade of yellow. The six tepals are arranged in two series. The outer tepals (sepals) are larger than the inner ones (petals); both may have brown-purple markings at the base. The stamens have free filaments (i.e. they not fused together or fused to the style). The style is divided into three branches, each of which usually has two lobes.[2]

Distinction from Neomarica

Trimezia is closely related to the genus Neomarica, and species have been transferred between the two genera. According to Chukr & Giulietti (2001), characters of the flowers do not clearly distinguish the genera, whereas vegetative characters do. Some which they consider diagnostic are shown in the following table.[3]

Characters Trimezia Neomarica
Underground system always a corm almost always a rhizome, only a corm in 10% of the species
Leaf bases (cataphylls) arranged in a spiral arranged in a plane, with the base of one clasping the one above (equitant)
Leaves flattened or circular, not folded sword-shaped (ensiform), folded lengthwise (conduplicate)
Flowering stem (scape) circular in cross-section (terete), never leaf-like flattened, always leaf-like

However, molecular phylogenetic studies have not upheld any of the genera within the tribe Trimezieae; three of the four main clades found all combine species from more than one genus.[4]

Species

Flower of T. juncifolia
Flower of T. violacea

As of May 2012, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 27 species of Trimezia.[5]

  • Trimezia bauensis Ravenna
  • Trimezia brevicaulis Ravenna
  • Trimezia cathartica (Klatt) Niederl.
  • Trimezia chimantensis Steyerm.
  • Trimezia exillima Ravenna
  • Trimezia fistulosa R.C.Foster
  • Trimezia fosteriana Steyerm.
  • Trimezia guaricana Ravenna
  • Trimezia guianensis Ravenna
  • Trimezia itamarajuensis Ravenna
  • Trimezia jaguatirica Ravenna
  • Trimezia juncifolia (Klatt) Benth. & Hook.f.
  • Trimezia lutea (Klatt) R.C.Foster
  • Trimezia martinicensis (Jacq.) Herb.
  • Trimezia marumbina Ravenna
  • Trimezia mogolensis Ravenna
  • Trimezia organensis Ravenna
  • Trimezia plicatifolia Chukr
  • Trimezia pusilla Ravenna
  • Trimezia riopretensis Ravenna
  • Trimezia sobolifera Ravenna
  • Trimezia sooretamensis Ravenna
  • Trimezia spathata (Klatt) Baker
  • Trimezia steyermarkii R.C.Foster
  • Trimezia suffusa Ravenna
  • Trimezia truncata Ravenna
  • Trimezia violacea (Klatt) Ravenna

Some former species which are now regarded as synonyms of those above include:[5]

  • Trimezia martii (Baker) R.C.Foster = Trimezia spathata subsp. spathata
  • Trimezia meridensis Herb. = Trimezia martinicensis
  • Trimezia sincorana Ravenna = Trimezia spathata subsp. sincorana

References

  1. ↑ Manning, John; Goldblatt, Peter (2008), The Iris Family: Natural History & Classification, Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, pp. 226–29, ISBN 0-88192-897-6 
  2. ↑ Innes, Clive (1985), The World of Iridaceae, Ashington, UK: Holly Gate International, ISBN 978-0-948236-01-3 , pp. 375–379
  3. ↑ Chukr, Nadia Said & Giulietti, Ana Maria (2001), "New combinations in the genus Neomarica (Iridaceae) and its segregation from Trimezia on the basis of morphological features", Novon 11 (4): 376–380, retrieved 2012-05-07 
  4. ↑ Lovo, Juliana; Winkworth, Richard C. & Mello-Silva, Renato (2012), "New insights into Trimezieae (Iridaceae) phylogeny: what do molecular data tell us?", Annals of Botany 110 (3): 689–702, doi:10.1093/aob/mcs127 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Search for "Trimezia", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2012-05-07 
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