Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World and the New World, with a very small number extending to temperate areas. Many species have colorful and showy flowers and are cultivated as ornamental plants.
Gasteranthus is a genus of 35 species of herbs and soft-stemmed subshrubs in the flowering plant family Gesneriaceae. The species occur in Central America and South America, from southernmost Mexico to Bolivia. Numerous species are threatened with extinction, mainly due to deforestation. This is due to two reasons: For one thing, Gasteranthus species are native to countries in which destruction of primary forest runs rampant; also, these plants do not distribute well and therefore endemism is very frequent, for example on isolated mountain ranges.
Nematanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. All of its species are endemic to Brazil. Compared to other gesneriads, Nematanthus has leaves that are small, succulent, and hard-surfaced. The plant has a trailing, branching, and spreading habit; it is generally an epiphyte in nature and a hanging-basket plant in cultivation. The flower has fused petals. In some species, the flower has a "pouch" at the bottom. The fancied resemblance of such flowers to a goldfish gives these plants the common name goldfish plant or guppy plant.
The tooth-billed hummingbird is a species of bird from the family Trochilidae. It is monotypic within the genus Androdon. It is found in humid forests in western Colombia, north-western Ecuador, and far eastern Panama. While generally scarce, localized and associated with the highly threatened humid sections of the Chocó, its range remains relatively large, and it is therefore considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International.
Glossoloma herthae is a plant species in the family Gesneriaceae. A recent review has moved it out of the genus Alloplectus.
Glossoloma martinianum is a plant species in the family Gesneriaceae. A recent review has moved it out of the genus Alloplectus.
Glossoloma penduliflorum is a plant species in the family Gesneriaceae. A recent review has moved it out of the genus Alloplectus.
Gasteranthus extinctus is a species of flowering plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. The species is a small herb that produces bright orange flowers that gave rise to the genus name Gasteranthus.
Trichodrymonia aurea is a species of plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Trichodrymonia binata is a species of plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Trichodrymonia hypocyrta is a species of plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Trichodrymonia lacera, formerly Paradrymonia lacera, is a species of plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is a terrestrial or epiphytic herb endemic to western Ecuador. Its natural habitat is tropical moist foothill and montane forest from 500 to 1,000 meters elevation. It is known from two collections in Cotopaxi Province. It may be extinct in the wild, but has been cultivated.
Phinaea ecuadorana is a species of plant in the family Gesneriaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Cyrtandra is a genus of flowering plants containing about 600 species, with more being discovered often, and is thus the largest genus in the family Gesneriaceae. These plants are native to Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, with the centre of diversity in Southeast Asia and the Malesian region. The genus is common, but many species within it are very rare, localized, and endangered endemic plants. The species can be difficult to identify because they are highly polymorphic and because they readily hybridize with each other. The plants may be small herbs, vines, shrubs, epiphytes, or trees. The genus is characterized in part by having two stamens, and most species have white flowers, with a few red-, orange-, yellow-, and pink-flowered species known. Almost all species live in rainforest habitats.
Columnea consanguinea is a species of flowering plants in the genus Columnea. They are endemic to Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama. They are distinctive for possessing red translucent heart-shaped markings on their leaves that serve to attract their main pollinators - the hummingbird Heliodoxa jacula - to their more inconspicuous flowers.
Corytoplectus is a genus in the plant family Gesneriaceae. Plants from Corytoplectus are found in Bolivia, Brazil North, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico Southwest, Peru, Venezuela, in the cloud-forests of the high cordillera. The genus contains c. 12 species. The genus differs from the closely related Alloplectus in having an erect umbellate inflorescence and berries. The type species is C. capitatus.
Amalophyllon is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Gesneriaceae. Its native range is Mexico.
Coptocheile is a monotypic genus of flowering plants possibly belonging to the family Gesneriaceae. Its only species is Coptocheile macrorhiza. It is native to Brazil.
Neomortonia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Gesneriaceae. It just contains one species, Neomortonia roseaWiehler
Shuaria is a genus of arborescent flowering plants belonging to the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is solely represented by Shuaria ecuadorica D.A.Neill & J.L.Clark, endemic to Ecuador. The generic name refers to the Shuar indigenous group of Amazonian Ecuador where several collections were made from the forests owned by the Shuar communities. Furthermore, the known range of S.ecuadorica corresponds quite closely to the ancestral Shuar territory in Pastaza, Morona-Santiago, and Chinchipe provinces.
