Wahlenbergia

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Wahlenbergia
Wahlenbergia Stricta Red Hill.jpg
Wahlenbergia stricta
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Campanulaceae
Subfamily: Campanuloideae
Genus: Wahlenbergia
Schrad. ex Roth [1]
Species

About 260; see List of Wahlenbergia species

Synonyms [2]
  • Aikinia(A.DC.) Salisb. ex Fourr.
  • Campanopsis(R.Br.) Kuntze
  • CampanuloidesA.DC.
  • CampanulopsisZoll. & Moritzi
  • CephalostigmaA.DC.
  • CervicinaDelile
  • HecaleRaf.
  • IreonScop.
  • LightfootiaL'Hér.
  • PetalostimaRaf.
  • SchultesiaRoth
  • StreleskiaHook.f. Valvinterlobus
  • Dulac

Wahlenbergia is a genus of around 260 species of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae. Plants in this genus are perennial or annual herbs with simple leaves and blue to purple bell-shaped flowers, usually with five petals lobes. Species of Wahlenbergia are found on all continents except North America, and on some isolated islands, but the greatest diversity occurs in the Southern Hemisphere.

Contents

Description

Plants in the genus Wahlenbergia are annual or perennial herbs, rarely shrubs, and sometimes have rhizomes. The stems are erect, circular in cross section and have simple leaves. The leaves decrease in size up the stem and usually have small scattered teeth on their edges. The flowers are borne on the end of the stems, either singly or arranged in a cyme. There are five sepals that remain until the fruiting stage. The petals are blue to purple and are joined at their base to form a bell-shaped or funnel-shaped tube with five lobes. There are usually five stamens, the style is often branched at the tip and the fruit is a capsule containing up to fifty seeds. [3] [4] [5]

Taxonomy and naming

In 1814, Heinrich Schrader used the name Wahlenbergia elongata but the name was a nomen nudum. The genus was first formally described in 1821 by Albrecht Wilhelm Roth and the description was published in Roth's book Novae Plantarum Species praesertim Indiae Orientalis. Roth retained Schrader's name Wahlenbergia. [1] [6] [7] The name honours Göran Wahlenberg (a Swedish botanist who taught at Uppsala University). [8]

Distribution

The genus is widespread and species of Wahlenbergia are found on all continents except North America. The highest species diversity is in southern temperate countries, particularly Africa and Australasia and species are even found on oceanic islands. Four species are known from the island of Saint Helena, including the now extinct species W. roxburghii . [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<i>Wahlenbergia gloriosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Wahlenbergia gloriosa, commonly known as royal bluebell is a perennial herb in the bluebell family Campanulaceae. It has egg-shaped leaves near the base of its stem, linear leaves higher up and usually a single purple flower with a tube-shaped base. The flower is the floral emblem of the Australian Capital Territory.

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<i>Utricularia dichotoma</i> Species of plant

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<i>Blandfordia grandiflora</i> Species of flowering plant

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<i>Lobelia purpurascens</i> Species of flowering plant

Lobelia purpurascens, commonly known as white root or purplish pratia, is a flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae of eastern Australia. It is a small herbaceous, scrambling plant with white to pale pink flowers.

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<i>Teucrium racemosum</i> Species of plant

Teucrium racemosum, also commonly referred to as either the grey germander or forest germander, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is endemic to Australia and is found in all mainland states, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. It grows in floodplains, dry lake beds and open woodlands. A perennial herb, it has four-sided, densely hairy stems, narrow egg-shaped leaves, and white flowers usually arranged singly in leaf axils. It grows to be between 15 and 40 cm tall.

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

Hesperocodon hederaceus, synonym Wahlenbergia hederacea, also known as the ivy-leaved bellflower, is a species of flowering plant that is found throughout Europe. It is the only species in the genus Hesperocodon. The delicate, patch-forming, hairless perennial herb has thin, creeping stems about 20 cm in length. Its pale green leaves are long-stalked and have an ivy-shaped, rounded structure. These leaves can be described as having a cordate shape and are approximately 5–12 mm long and wide. The plant has erect, solitary, pale blue flowers in summer and autumn, with bell-shaped corolla with 5 short lobes. The flowers are 6–10 mm long x 5–8 mm wide and sit on fine stalks 1–4 cm long. It is suggested that the long pedicels are an adaptation to assist in seed dispersal.

<i>Dioscorea spicata</i> Species of herbaceous vine

Dioscorea spicata is a herbaceous perennial in the family Dioscoreaceae.

<i>Epacris lanuginosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Epacris lanuginosa, commonly known as woolly-style heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a slender, erect shrub with hairy branchlets, linear to lance-shaped leaves, and tube-shaped, white flowers crowded along the ends of the branches.

<i>Wahlenbergia capillaris</i> Species of flowering plant

Wahlenbergia capillaris, commonly known as tufted bluebell, is a plant in the family Campanulaceae and is native to Australia and New Guinea. It is an erect perennial herb with a few to many stems and grows to a height of 50 cm (20 in). The leaves are mostly linear with a few scattered teeth on the sides and the flowers are blue, bell-shaped with five lobes and arranged in cymes. This bluebell is widespread and common, occurring in all Australian mainland states and territories.

<i>Corybas cryptanthus</i> Species of orchid

Corybas cryptanthus, commonly known as the hidden spider orchid or icky, is a species of terrestrial orchid endemic to New Zealand. It has no obvious leaves and the mostly white flower is usually buried in leaf litter. The plant is usually only detected by its fruiting capsule which is borne on a stem which elongates up to 280 mm (10 in) high.

<i>Wahlenbergia capensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Wahlenbergia capensis, commonly known as the Cape bluebell, is a plant in the family Campanulaceae and is native to the Cape Province but has been introduced to Australia. It is an annual herb with up to four greenish blue, bell-shaped flowers with spreading petal lobes.

<i>Lobelia browniana</i> Species of flowering plant

Lobelia browniana is a species of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is an erect, glabrous, annual plant with narrow leaves and one-sided racemes of blue flowers with long, soft hairs in the centre.

<i>Wahlenbergia gymnoclada</i> Species of plant

Wahlenbergia gymnoclada, commonly known as the naked bluebell, is a species of plant of the family Campanulaceae and is native to Australia. It is one of 200 species, in the Wahlenbergia genus. Of these species, 26 occur in Australia, including one introduced, and Tasmania has seven species of native Wahlenbergia. Species in this genus are “all slender perennial herbs and most species occur in grassy vegetation, although one occurs in rocky alpine areas. “The slender pedicels with delicate blue, symmetrical, flowers make this a relatively distinctive genus. The corolla tube is bell shaped, often with more or less spreading lobes”.

References

  1. 1 2 "Wahlenbergia". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. "Wahlenbergia". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  3. "Wahlenbergia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  4. Smith, Peter J. "Genus Wahlenbergia". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  5. "Wahlenbergia". Western Australian Herbarium. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  6. Roth, Albrecht Wilhelm (1821). Novae plantarum species praesertim Indiae orientalis. Halberstadt. pp. 399–400. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  7. Smith, Peter (30 September 1992). "A revision of the genus Wahlenbergia (Campanulaceae) in Australia". Telopea. 5 (1): 91. doi: 10.7751/telopea19924963 .
  8. Halloran, Joe. "Wahlenbergia gloriosa". Australian National Botanic Garden. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  9. Mabberley, David J. (2017). Mabberley's Plant-Book (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9781107115026.