Hypericum calcicola

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Hypericum calcicola
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Hypericaceae
Genus: Hypericum
Section: Hypericum sect. Thornea
Species:
H. calcicola
Binomial name
Hypericum calcicola

Hypericum calcicola is a species of flowering plant of the St. John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is a perennial herb with dense branches that can grow up to 3 meters tall. The species has small leaves and pink or rose red petals. Originally described in 1944, it was later moved into the genus Thornea , only to be returned to Hypericum when Thornea was demoted to sectional status. Found in Guatemala and Mexico, the plant grows on limestone bluffs in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes mountain range. It often becomes dominant in its ecosystem, and grows alongside a variety of other trees and shrubs.

Contents

Etymology

One origin of the genus name Hypericum is that it is derived from the Greek words hyper (above) and eikon (picture), in reference to the tradition of hanging the plant over religious icons in the home. [1] The specific epithet calcicola is Latin and derives from the words calcis ("limestone") and cola ("inhabitant"), and refers to the habitat of the plant. [2]

Description

Hypericum calcicola is a perennial herb with dense branches which lacks hairs (is glabrous). It grows upright, usually 30–60 centimeters tall but up to 3 meters tall. It has many short lateral branches, and the older branches are a blackish color while the younger are more reddish. [3] [4]

The leaves are small, and are an oblong to oval shape. They have a short leaf stalk and are placed opposite one another on the stem. They are a somewhat leathery texture, and are 0.5–1.5 cm long and 0.2–0.6 cm wide. On the underside of the leaf, there is a visible net of veins. The flowers are placed at the ends of branches, and have a short and slender pedicel. There are four ovate sepals that are around 0.2 cm long. The petals are pink to rose red, and are 0.5–0.7 cm long. There are three styles that are around 0.2 cm long. The seed capsule is around 0.5 cm long, and there are few seeds that are around 0.1 cm long. [3] [4]

The wood of H. calcicola is porous and diffuse, with faintly visible growth rings. The wood tissue lacks axial parenchyma, but does have both uniseriate and multiseriate rays. [5]

It is distinguished from its sister species Hypericum matudae by having more dense branches, shorter internodes, leathery instead of papery leaf texture, and smaller petals and seed capsules. [6] When it was first described, its resemblance to Symphoricarpos microphyllus was pointed out. [3]

Taxonomy

Hypericum calcicola was originally described by Paul Standley and Julian Steyermark in 1944. [7] After several collections of the species and Hypericum matudae , Dennis Breedlove and Elizabeth McClintock established a new genus named Thornea for the two species. [8] Thus, Breedlove and McClintock authored the new combination Thornea calcicola. [9] In 2016, following a review of phylogenetic studies on the family Hypericaceae that suggested Thornea was not an independent genus, [10] Norman Robson restored Thornea calcicola to Hypericum under the new Hypericum sect. Thornea . Following that classification, the placement of H. calcicola can be summarized as follows: [11]

Hypericum

Hypericum sect. Thornea
H. calcicola – H. matudae

Hypericum calcicola was used as an outgroup in a 2018 phylogenetic study of some Andean Hypericum species, and had its DNA sequenced at that time. [12] It was again used as an outgroup in a 2023 phylogenetic study of several Hypericum species, this time under the name Thornea calcicola. [13]

Distribution, habitat, and ecology

The holotype of the Hypericum calcicola was collected in its type locality of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, in 1942. [4] It is distributed across Guatemala and southeast Mexico. [7] It is commonly found on limestone bluffs, and particularly on the mountain peaks of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes range at an altitude of 3,700 meters. [3] It grows in the Montane rainforest ecosystem, especially on the lake shores of Lagunas de Montebello National Park. [14] Hypericum calcicola often becomes somewhat dominant in its ecosystem, where it grows alongside numerous trees and shrubs. [lower-alpha 1] [14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Rondeletia stenosiphon , Podocarpus matudae , Cavendishia laurifolia , Saurauia scabrida , Lyonia squamulosa , Hoffmannia , Daphnopsis , Tibouchina breedlovei , Monnina xalapense , Hauya heydeana , Zanthoxylon , Parathesis chiapensis , and Miconia laurifolia . [14]

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<i>Hypericum aegypticum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

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Hypericum collinum is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae which is found in Mexico.

<i>Hypericum bupleuroides</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

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<i>Hypericum sechmenii</i> Flowering plant of the St Johns wort family

Hypericum sechmenii, or Seçmen's St John's wort, is a rare species of flowering plant of the St John's wort family (Hypericaceae) that is found in the Eskişehir Province of central Turkey. It was first described in 2009 by Turkish botanists Atila Ocak and Onur Koyuncu, who named the species in honor of Özcan Seçmen, a fellow botanist. They assigned the species to the genus Hypericum, and Norman Robson later placed H. sechmenii into the section Adenosepalum.

<i>Hypericum formosissimum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum formosissimum is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. Found in the cracks of limestone rocks, it is a small perennial herb that grows in a pillow-like shape, has yellow flower petals, and blooms in the late summer. The plant is rare and has a limited habitat in Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. It is threatened by rock collapses, urbanization, and road construction; it is not protected by conservation efforts.

<i>Hypericum huber-morathii</i> Species of flowering plant – St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum huber-morathii is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is a small perennial herb with few stems. It has narrow and brittle stems, thick leaves, flowers in clusters of varying numbers, small yellow petals, around twenty stamens, and three styles. H. huber-morathii is closely related to H. minutum and H. sechmenii, and also shares characteristics with H. lanuginosum. The plant is endemic to Turkey, and is found among limestone rocks in a limited region of southwestern Anatolia. Originally excluded from a comprehensive monograph of Hypericum, the species' placement within the genus is unclear. It has been placed in both section Adenosepalum and section Origanifolium.

<i>Hypericum aciferum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns Wort family

Hypericum aciferum is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is a small shrub endemic to the Greek island of Crete. H. aciferum grows in a mat on the ground and has twisting branches, needle-like leaves, and long golden petals. Its flowers are also heterostylous, which means that the species can exhibit one of two flower types on different plants. This trait is unique within the genus Hypericum to H. aciferum, H. russeggeri, and H. aegypticum, the three species in section Adenotrias.

<i>Hypericum russeggeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Hypericum russeggeri is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. The plant is a small shrub with many branches that spread across the ground, and it has many small flowers with pale yellow petals. It is found only among calcareous rocks along the coast and in the foothills of the Nur Mountains of eastern Turkey and northern Syria. While H. russeggeri has an array of phytochemicals present in its flowering structures and leaves, these are found in lower concentrations than other species of Hypericum. The species was first described in 1842 as Triadenia russeggeri, and it has been placed into various defunct genera including Elodea and Adenotrias. It is now known as Hypericum russeggeri and is the type species of Hypericum section Adenotrias, a small section that also includes H. aegypticum and H. aciferum.

<i>Hypericum minutum</i> Species of plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum minutum is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is a small perennial herb that grows in tufts. It has slender and brittle stems, flowers in clusters of one to three, yellow petals with black and amber glands, few stamens, and a seed capsule with narrow grooves. H. minutum is closely related to H. huber-morathii and H. sechmenii and resembles a smaller form of the latter plant. The plant is endemic to Turkey, and is found among limestone rocks in a limited region of southwestern Anatolia. Originally excluded from a comprehensive monograph of Hypericum, the species' placement within the genus is unclear. It has been placed in both section Adenosepalum and section Origanifolium.

<i>Hypericum decaisneanum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae

Hypericum decaisneanum is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. Named for French botanist Joseph Decaisne, it is a small perennial herb that grows mostly upright. It has thick, papery leaves and up to twenty flowers with bright yellow petals. Endemic to the Jebel al Akhdar province of Libya, H. decaisneanum is found in the cracks of limestone rocks on steep escarpments. It is a member of numerous plant communities and associations of chasmophytes, of which it is sometimes a key species. First described in 1899, the species was originally placed in section Taeniocarpium of the genus Hypericum, but more recently it has been considered a member of section Adenosepalum.

Hypericum monanthemum is a species of flowering plant of the St. John's wort family (Hypericaceae) which is native to the Himalayan mountains.

Hypericum iwatelittorale, originally styled Hypericum iwate-littorale, is a species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. Named for its habitat in the coastal regions of the Iwate Prefecture in Japan, little is known about the ecology and conservation status of the plant. The species is a small perennial herb with five bright yellow petals on its up to thirty flowers. It has many stamens, and an array of pale and black glands on its leaves, sepals, and petals. Described in 1937 by Hideo Koidzumi, it has at times been considered a synonym of Hypericum pseudopetiolatum. However, it was affirmed to be a valid species in 2003 and was placed into the type section of Hypericum, with its similarities to H. tosaense being noted.

Hypericum matudae is a species of flowering plant of the St. John's wort family Hypericaceae. It is a shrub that grows about 2 meters tall, has small and crowded branches, and has pink or white petals. Described in 1944 and named for botanist Eizi Matuda, the species was at one point named Thornea matudae because of its placement in the small genus Thornea. It was returned to Hypericum when Thornea was demoted to sectional status in 2016. Native to Nicaragua and Mexico, the species is found on shale and sandstone in the cloud forest ecosystem.

References

  1. ↑ Coombes 2012, p. 172.
  2. ↑ Rye 1984, p. 6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Standley & Steyermark 1944, p. 187.
  4. 1 2 3 Breedlove & McClintock 1976, p. 370.
  5. ↑ Gibson 1980, p. 88.
  6. ↑ Breedlove & McClintock 1976, p. 369.
  7. 1 2 "Hypericum calcicolaStandl. & Steyerm.". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  8. ↑ Breedlove & McClintock 1976, p. 368.
  9. ↑ "Thornea calcicola(Standl. & Steyerm.) Breedlove & E.M.McClint.". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  10. ↑ Ruhfel et al. 2011, p. 318.
  11. ↑ Robson 2016, p. 192.
  12. ↑ Nurk, Michling & Linder 2017, p. 336.
  13. ↑ Hasan et al. 2023, p. 24.
  14. 1 2 3 Breedlove & McClintock 1976, p. 373.

Bibliography

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