Pitcairnia feliciana

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Pitcairnia feliciana
Willrussellia feliciana-NMNH-2154644.jpg
NMNH herbarium specimen
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Bromeliaceae
Genus: Pitcairnia
Species:
P. feliciana
Binomial name
Pitcairnia feliciana
Synonyms [2]

Willrussellia felicianaA.Chev.

Pitcairnia feliciana is a species of bromeliad endemic to Guinea, West Africa, and is the only bromeliad not native to the Americas. [1] [2] It can be found growing on sandstone outcrops (inselbergs) of the Fouta Djallon highlands in Middle Guinea. [3]

Etymology

Its specific epithet feliciana commemorates Henri Jacques-Félix  [ es ] (1907–2008), the French botanist who first collected it. In 1937, he discovered the plants growing on the steep rocks of Mount Gangan, near Kindia, in the former French Guinea. [4] [5]

Description

It has bright orange-red, scentless flowers with abundant nectar, which is a pollination syndrome typical of bird-pollinated bromeliads, although no actual sightings of birds pollinating this species have been recorded yet. [6]

Evolution

Global distribution map of the of bromeliads WorldBromeliadDistribution.PNG
Global distribution map of the of bromeliads

The divergence between this species and its closest relative in the genus Pitcairnia occurred around 10 million years ago. Therefore, the disjunct distribution of this genus cannot be a relict from before continental drift separated Africa from the Americas, [6] as this separation occurred much earlier. The ancestor of P. feliciana probably traversed the Atlantic Ocean as seeds dispersed by migrating birds. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bromeliaceae</span> Family of monocot flowering plants

The Bromeliaceae are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, Pitcairnia feliciana.

<i>Angraecum</i> Genus of orchids

Angraecum, also known as comet orchid, is a genus of the family Orchidaceae native to tropical and South Africa, as well as Sri Lanka. It contains 223 species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunbird</span> Family of birds

Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathers, particularly in the males. Many species also have especially long tail feathers. Their range extends through most of Africa to the Middle East, South Asia, South-east Asia and southern China, to Indonesia, New Guinea and northern Australia. Species diversity is highest in equatorial regions.

<i>Hatiora</i> Genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae

Hatiora is a small genus of epiphytic cacti which belongs to the tribe Rhipsalideae within the subfamily Cactoideae of the Cactaceae. Recent taxonomic studies have led to the three species formerly placed in subgenus Rhipsalidopsis being removed from the genus, including the well known and widely cultivated ornamental plants known as Easter cactus or Whitsun cactus.

<i>Neococytius</i> Genus of moths

Neococytius is a monotypic moth genus in the family Sphingidae erected by Ronald W. Hodges in 1971. Its only species, Neococytius cluentius, the Cluentius sphinx, was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1775 as Sphinx cluentius. It is found in northern South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. It is rare on Cuba. It has been recorded in North America, from Mississippi north to Michigan and Illinois.

<i>Puya raimondii</i> Species of plant

Puya raimondii, also known as the Raimondi Cove or the Queen of the Andes (English), titanka and ilakuash (Quechua) or puya de Raimondi (Spanish), is the largest species of bromeliad, its inflorescences reaching up to 15 m (50 ft) in height. It is native to the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru. It was once hypothesized to be a protocarnivorous plant.

<i>Drosera intermedia</i> Species of carnivorous flowering plant in the family Droseraceae

Drosera intermedia, commonly known as the oblong-leaved sundew, spoonleaf sundew, or spatulate leaved sundew, is an insectivorous plant species belonging to the sundew genus. It is a temperate or tropical species native to Europe, southeastern Canada, the eastern half of the United States, Cuba, Hispaniola, and northern South America.

<i>Pitcairnia</i> Species of flowering plant

Pitcairnia is a genus of plants in the family Bromeliaceae, subfamily Pitcairnioideae. It was named for William Pitcairn, Scottish physician and gardener (1711–1791). The genus Pitcairnia ranks as the second most prolific of the bromeliad family. They are most abundant in Colombia, Peru and Brazil, but can also be found in areas from Cuba and Mexico south to Argentina. One species, Pitcairnia feliciana, is found in tropical West Africa and is the only member of the family Bromeliaceae not native to the Americas.

Genlisea margaretae is a carnivorous species in the genus Genlisea native to areas of Madagascar, Tanzania, and Zambia. It has pale bundles of root-like organs up to about 20 cm long under ground that attract, trap, and digest protozoans. These organs are subterranean leaves, which lack chlorophyll. It had been known to possess the smallest known genome of any flowering plant as of 2006, but was later surpassed by the related species Genlisea tuberosa.

Garcinia epunctata is a tall tropical rainforest tree in the family Clusiaceae. The tree is known for growing on inselbergs found in moist tropical forests of West Africa, including Upper Guinean forests, Lower Guinean forests, and Congolian forests south through Angola, both coastal and inland forests.

Colura zoophaga is a species of epiphytic liverwort that is endemic to the African highlands, specifically parts of Kenya. It belongs to the genus Colura, which has been hypothesized to be carnivorous as early as 1893. It is a recently described species that was the subject of the first scientific study aimed at investigating the allegations of carnivory in liverworts.

<i>Ficus platypoda</i> Species of plant in the family Moraceae

Ficus platypoda, commonly known as the desert fig or rock fig, is a fig that is endemic to central and northern Australia. It is a lithophytic plant that grows on rocky outcrops, reaching 10 m in height.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mulford B. Foster</span> Botanist

Mulford Bateman Foster was a botanist known by many as the "Father of the Bromeliad" as he was instrumental in the discovery and introduction of many new species of Bromeliad to the United States. He also devoted his life to hybridizing and contributed widely to the knowledge of the plant species. He was a man of many talents including naturalist, explorer, writer, photographer, artist, horticulturist and a well-respected landscape architect in Florida. Numerous bromeliad plants found today are named after various Foster family members and the genus Fosterella is named in honor of his work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilhelm Barthlott</span> German botanist

Wilhelm Barthlott is a German botanist and biomimetic materials scientist. His official botanical author citation is Barthlott.

<i>Hatiora salicornioides</i> Species of cactus

Hatiora salicornioides, the bottle cactus, dancing-bones, drunkard's-dream, or spice cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family. A member of the tribe Rhipsalideae, it often grows as an epiphyte, natively in eastern Brazil and ornamentally elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guinean montane forests</span>

The Guinean montane forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of West Africa.

<i>Ficus cyathistipula</i> Tropical African fig tree

''Ficus cyathistipula'', the African fig tree, is a species of fig that is native to the tropical forest regions of Africa. They may be small trees, shrubs or hemi-epiphytic lianas, and are widespread in the moist tropics, where they may be found in Afromontane or rainforest, often overhanging pools. The figs are reddish when ripe, and have thick, spongy walls that enable them to float on water. They are named for their cup-shaped (cyathus-) and persistent stipules (stipula).

<i>Monodora tenuifolia</i> Species of plant in the family Annonaceae

Monodora tenuifolia is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to equatorial Africa. George Bentham, the English botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its slender leaves.

<i>Barthlottia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Barthlottia madagascariensis is the only species in the genus Barthlottia of flowering plants in the family Scrophulariaceae. The large shrub with conspicuous purple flowers is native to a very restricted area in southeast Madagascar and was described in 1996.

Maclaudia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Apocynaceae. It only contains one known species, Maclaudia felixii Venter & R.L.Verh.

References

  1. 1 2 Larridon, I. (2018). "Pitcairnia feliciana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T87753965A87753976. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T87753965A87753976.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. Porembski, Stefan; Barthlott, Wilhelm (2000). Inselbergs: Biotic Diversity of Isolated Rock Outcrops in Tropical and Temperate Regions. Springer. p. 205. ISBN   978-3-540-67269-2.
  4. Techniques agricoles et productions tropicales (in French). Vol. 4. G.-P. Maisonneuve & Larose  [ fr ]. 1965. p. 21.
  5. Jacques-Félix, Henri. "The Discovery of a Bromeliad in Africa". Selbyana . 21 (1/2): 118–124.
  6. 1 2 Givnish, Thomas J.; Millam, Kendra C.; Berry, Paul E.; Sytsma, Kenneth J. (2007). "Phylogeny, adaptive radiation, and historical biogeography of Bromeliaceae inferred from ndhF sequence data". Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany . 23 (1): 3–26. doi: 10.5642/aliso.20072301.04 .
  7. Porembski, Stefan; Barthlott, Wilhelm (1999). "Pitcairnia feliciana, the only indigenous African bromeliad". Harvard Papers in Botany . 5: 175–184.