Cayaponia | |
---|---|
Cayaponia espelina fruit | |
Cayaponia tayuya leaf | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Cucurbitales |
Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
Subfamily: | Cucurbitoideae |
Tribe: | Cucurbiteae |
Genus: | Cayaponia Silva Manso [1] |
Species | |
Cayaponia espelina , Cayaponia tayuya |
Cayaponia is among the largest genera in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, with about 60 species. The plants are referred to as melonleaf. They are common from the southern United States to South America. Some species are also found in western Africa, Madagascar, and Fernando de Noronha, which is about 354 km (220 mi) off the coast of Brazil. [2] [3]
Most species are found in rainforests and have white or yellow-green flowers. The ancestral mode of pollination in Cayaponia was inferred as pollinated by bats, but at least two shifts to bee pollination are inferred among some of its species. This is apparently the first clade to shift from bat to bee pollination vice bee to bat pollination. [4] A 2011 phylogenetioc study placed the genus Selysia under this genus. [5]
Brazilian botanist António Luiz Patricio da Silva Manso named this genus after the indigenous Cayapo people of Brazil. [6]
There are around 120 described species in the genus (but only half of them accepted): [7]
The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera. Those most important to humans are the following:
Melastomataceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics comprising c. 175 genera and c. 5115 known species. Melastomes are annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, or small trees.
Cucumis is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber, true melons, the horned melon, and the West Indian gherkin.
Calliandra is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae, in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It contains about 140 species that are native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas.
Columnea is a genus of around 200 species of epiphytic herbs and shrubs in the family Gesneriaceae, native to the tropics of the Americas and the Caribbean. The tubular or oddly shaped flowers are usually large and brightly colored – usually red, yellow, or orange – sometimes resembling a fish in shape. A common name is flying goldfish plants due to the unusual flower shape.
Maytenus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. Members of the genus are distributed throughout Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Micronesia, and Australasia, the Indian Ocean and Africa. They grow in a very wide variety of climates, from tropical to subpolar. The traditional circumscription of Maytenus was paraphyletic, so many species have been transferred to Denhamia and Gymnosporia.
Renealmia is a plant genus in the family Zingiberaceae. Its members are native to tropical Africa and tropical America. In Peru, fruits and tubers are sources of indigenous dyes. and indigenous medical treatments for leishmania and malaria In Colombia, it is used to treat snakebite. Bracts and leaves can serve as phytotelmata, retaining small quantities of water that offer habitat for other organisms.
Elleanthus is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. They are commonly known as tiger orchid. All the species are native to the warmer parts of the Western Hemisphere.
Selysia bidentata is a species of the genus Selysia native to Panama. It is highly similar to S. smithii. It has ovate seeds and there are 6–9 of them in each fruit. The fruits turn from green to red at maturity. The leaves have three lobes. Selysia bidentata can be distinguished from the 3 other species of Selysia by its bidentate seeds. Seeds of the other three species are shaped like arrowheads.
Daphnopsis is a plant genus in the family Thymelaeaceae. There are 50 to 65 species distributed in the Neotropics. They are shrubs and small trees with tubular or bell-shaped flowers. Individuals are dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate trees.
Connarus is a genus of plants in the family Connaraceae.
Melothria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, native to the Americas from the United States to Argentina, and with some introductions in Africa and elsewhere. A number of Old World species formerly in Melothria were reassigned to Cucumis.
Echinopepon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. Tendrillate vines, their prickly fruits are operculate, with the prickles themselves being stipitate glandular.
Hemsleya is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae.
Gurania is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae.