Marcgravia

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Marcgravia
Marcgravia umbellata GS388.png
Marcgravia umbellata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Marcgraviaceae
Genus: Marcgravia
L.
Type species
Marcgravia umbellata L. [1]

Marcgravia is a genus of plants in the family Marcgraviaceae native to the region spanning from Mexico to tropical South America. [2] It is commonly eaten by the dwarf little fruit bat. [3] The genus is named in memory of the German naturalist Georg Marcgraf. [4] The plant is visited by Thomas's nectar bat. [3]

Contents

Description

Marcgravia umbellata inflorescence Marcgravia umbellata kz01.jpg
Marcgravia umbellata inflorescence
Marcgravia coriacea branch Marcgravia coriacea Vahl (6762822663).jpg
Marcgravia coriacea branch
Sterile Marcgravia umbellata branch climbing up a tree Marcgravia umbellata kz12.jpg
Sterile Marcgravia umbellata branch climbing up a tree
Seeds of Marcgravia pittieri Marcgravia pittieri AB57a.jpg
Seeds of Marcgravia pittieri

Vegetative characteristics

Marcgravia are vines or climbing shrubs. [5] Marcgravia is classified as a sub-parasitical shrub. [4] The branches are dimorphic. The sterile branches creep or climb. The pendulous fertile branches are terete and do not bear roots. [5]

Generative characteristics

The terminal, umbelliform, partly sterile inflorescence [5] is composed of a ring of fertile flowers, as well as a number of nectaries derived from bracts, which are fused with sterile flowers. [6] The fertile flowers have four sepals and four petals. [5]

Cytology

The chromosome count is 2n = 36, 38, 62–64. [7]

Taxonomy

It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 with Marcgravia umbellata L. as the type species. [1] [8]

Etymology

The genus name Marcgravia honours the German naturalist [9] and astronomer [10] [11] Georg Markgraf. [9] [10]

Species

Distribution

It is native to Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Central American Pacific Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, and to the Windward Islands. [2]

Ecology

The flowers are bat-pollinated. [6]

Use

In Ecuador and Peru the fruits are used as food and the sap is used as a drink. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-b). Marcgravia L. Tropicos. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://www.tropicos.org/name/40013713
  2. 1 2 Marcgravia L. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:39074-1
  3. 1 2 "Marcgravia - Encyclopedia of Life".
  4. 1 2 "Marcgraviaceæ, the Marcgravia Tribe".
  5. 1 2 3 4 Dressler, S. (2004). Marcgraviaceae. In: Kubitzki, K. (eds) Flowering Plants · Dicotyledons. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, vol 6. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
  6. 1 2 Tschapka, M., Dressler, S., & von Helversen, O. (2006). Bat visits to Marcgravia pittieri and notes on the inflorescence diversity within the genus Marcgravia (Marcgraviaceae). Flora-Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants, 201(5), 383-388.
  7. ↑ Schneider, J. V., Paule, J., Gitai, J., Dressler, S., Gusmão, C. L. S., & Benko-Iseppon, A. M. (2015). Divergent genome sizes reflect the infrafamilial subdivision of the Neotropical woody Marcgraviaceae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 177(1), 1-14.
  8. ↑ Linné, Carl von, & Salvius, Lars. (1753). Caroli Linnaei ... Species plantarum :exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas... (Vol. 1, p. 503). Impensis Laurentii Salvii. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358522
  9. 1 2 Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Marcgravia. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Marcgravia
  10. 1 2 Willem Piso and Georg Marggraf’s “Historia naturalis Brasiliae” (1648). (n.d.). University of Oxford. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk/willem-piso-and-georg-marggrafs-historia-naturalis-brasiliae-1648
  11. 1 2 Christenhusz, M. J. M., Fay, M. F., Chase, M. W. (2017). Plants of the World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Vascular Plants. p. 481. United Kingdom: University of Chicago Press.
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