Worsleya

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Worsleya
Worsleya1.jpg
Worsleya procera IMG 20190707 111532.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Amaryllidoideae
Tribe: Griffineae
Genus: Worsleya
(W.Watson ex Traub) Traub
Species:
W. procera
Binomial name
Worsleya procera
Synonyms [3] [4] [5]
  • Amaryllis subg. WorselyaW.Watson ex Traub
  • Hippeastrum procerumLem.
  • Amaryllis proceraDuch. 1863, illegitimate homonym not Salisb. 1796
  • Amaryllis rayneriHook.f.
  • Worsleya rayneri(Hook.f.) Traub & Moldenke

Worsleya is a genus of Brazilian plants in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae, cultivated as an ornamental because of its showy flowers. There is only one known species, Worsleya procera, native to eastern Brazil. [6] [7] [8] It is endemic to the marshy top of a mesa called "Mount Cuca" 30 miles (52 km) north of Rio de Janeiro. Here the sickle-shaped leaves curve northward. When grown in the northern hemisphere, the leaves curve southward. [9] It is one of the largest (around 1.5 meters (five feet) high by up to one foot (30 centimeters) thick near the base) [10] and also rarest members of the subfamily Amaryllidoideae (family Amaryllidaceae).

Botanical illustration of Worsleya procera Worsleya rayneri1CURTIS.jpg
Botanical illustration of Worsleya procera

This species is also known as the Empress of Brazil because of its origin in South America and in reference to the wife of Emperor Dom Pedro.[ citation needed ] It grows in very extreme and moist environments, and is commonly found near waterfalls in rich soil situated on granite rocks (which is why it is sometimes considered to be a lithophyte) and sunny places. However, it can be difficult to cultivate. It has plenty of needs, though it can exhibit great hardiness. It also has many ornamental traits.[ citation needed ]

Description

Seeds of Worsleya procera (Lem.) Traub with scale bar (1 cm) Seeds of Worsleya procera (Lem.) Traub.jpg
Seeds of Worsleya procera (Lem.) Traub with scale bar (1 cm)

The plant has a large bulb that produces a high stem with green recurved leaves. Worsleya produces spectacular and beautiful blooms. They are large, lilac to blue, with small freckles on them. The seeds are black and semicircular, and (when cultivated) are usually sown in pumice or sometimes Sphagnum, although with Sphagnum the threat of decay is higher. [12] [13] [14]

Conservation

It is critically endangered, [1] and it is included in the Brazilian official list of endangered species. [15]

Etymology

It is named after Arthington Worsley (1861-1943). [16]

Cytology

The diploid chromosome count is 2n = 42 unlike its sister group Griffinia with 2n = 20. [17]

Related Research Articles

<i>Amaryllis</i> Genus of plants

Amaryllis is the only genus in the subtribe Amaryllidinae. It is a small genus of flowering bulbs, with two species. The better known of the two, Amaryllis belladonna, is a native of the Western Cape region of South Africa, particularly the rocky southwest area between the Olifants River Valley and Knysna.

<i>Hippeastrum</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae

Hippeastrum is a genus of about 90 species, and over 600 hybrids and cultivars, of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, from Mexico south to Argentina and on some islands in the Caribbean. The majority have large, fleshy bulbs—usually about the size of a softball—and tall, broad, strap-like leaves that are (generally) evergreen, and large red or purple flowers. Numerous colors and cultivars have been created over the past hundred years.

<i>Amaryllis belladonna</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae

Amaryllis belladonna, the Jersey lily, belladonna-lily, naked-lady-lily, or March lily, is a plant species native to Cape Province in South Africa but widely cultivated as an ornamental. It is reportedly naturalized in many places: Corsica, Portugal, the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, the Scilly Isles of Great Britain, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ascension Island, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Chile, California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Michigan and the Juan Fernández Islands.

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

Nerine is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. They are bulbous perennials, some evergreen, associated with rocky and arid habitats. They bear spherical umbels of lily-like flowers in shades from white through pink to crimson. In the case of deciduous species, the flowers may appear on naked stems before the leaves develop. Native to South Africa, there are about 20–30 species in the genus. Though described as lilies, they are not significantly related to the true lilies (Liliaceae), but more closely resemble their relatives, Amaryllis and Lycoris. The genus was established by the Revd. William Herbert in 1820.

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

Hymenocallis (US) or (UK) is a genus of flowering plants in the amaryllis family native to the Americas.

<i>Lycoris</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Lycoris is a genus of 13–20 species of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. They are native to eastern and southern Asia in China, Japan, southern Korea, northern Vietnam, northern Laos, northern Thailand, northern Burma, Nepal, northern Pakistan, Afghanistan, and eastern Iran. They were imported into North Carolina and now grow wild. In English they are also called hurricane lilies or cluster amaryllis. The genus shares the English name spider lily with two other related genera.

<i>Zephyranthes robusta</i> Species of plant

Zephyranthes robusta, synonym Habranthus robustus, commonly known as the Brazilian copperlily, pink fairy lily or the pink rain lily, is a species of herbaceous flowering bulb. It is native to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, but is now naturalized in Florida, Colombia, South Africa, and Mauritius.

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

Eucrosia is a genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family distributed from Ecuador to Peru. The name is derived from the Greek eu, beautiful, and krossos, a fringe, referring to the long stamens. As circumscribed in 2020, the genus contains six species. Phaedranassa and Rauhia are the genera most closely related to Eucrosia.

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

Apodolirion is a genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family. It consists of 6 species distributed in South Africa. The name Apodolirion comes from the Greek and means "stemless flower" and describes the almost sessile flowers of these species.

<i>Rhodophiala</i> Former genus of flowering plants

Rhodophiala was a genus of herbaceous, perennial and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family. It consisted of about 30 South American species distributed in southern Brazil, Argentina, and, specially, in Chile. Most of the species are known colloquially as añañuca. It has now been submerged in Zephyranthes.

<i>× Amarcrinum</i> Genus of flowering plants

The scientific name × Amarcrinum is applied to those hybrid plants obtained from artificial crosses between the genera Amaryllis and Crinum, although as of March 2014, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families regards the name as "unplaced". They are grown as ornamental plants in gardens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Griffineae</span> Tribe of flowering plants

The Griffineae is a tribe in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. It includes 3 genera with 22 species endemic to Brazil in South America. A typical character of the representatives of the tribe are the flowers - They are blue or lilac and collected into an umbel. Only the members of this tribe and the genus Lycoris are able to form flowers with such color in the whole subfamily Amaryllidoideae of Amaryllidaceae. The species in this group are typically perennial and produce bulbs. The leaves are green, with elliptical form in most of the cases but in some members, as in Worsleya, they are sword-shaped.

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

Griffinia is a genus of Brazilian plants in the Amaryllis family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. It includes 23 known species which are endemic to Brazil. The most closely related genus to it is the monotypic Worsleya.

<i>Griffinia hyacinthina</i> Species of flowering plant

Griffinia hyacinthina is a bulbous species of flowering plant which is endemic to Brazil.

Zephyranthes puertoricensis, known commonly as the Puerto Rico zephyr lily, is a species of flowering plant in the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. It is native to the West Indies, Panama, Colombia, Suriname and Venezuela. It is a member of low elevation grasslands communities and moist forest habitat.

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

The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus Amaryllis and is commonly known as the amaryllis family. The leaves are usually linear, and the flowers are usually bisexual and symmetrical, arranged in umbels on the stem. The petals and sepals are undifferentiated as tepals, which may be fused at the base into a floral tube. Some also display a corona. Allyl sulfide compounds produce the characteristic odour of the onion subfamily (Allioideae).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amaryllidoideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Amaryllidoideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, order Asparagales. The most recent APG classification, APG III, takes a broad view of the Amaryllidaceae, which then has three subfamilies, one of which is Amaryllidoideae, and the others are Allioideae and Agapanthoideae. The subfamily consists of about seventy genera, with over eight hundred species, and a worldwide distribution.

<i>Hippeastrum aulicum</i> Species of plant

Hippeastrum aulicum, the Lily of the Palace, is a bulbous perennial, in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado ecoregions from Brazil to Paraguay, in South America.

<i>Hippeastrum correiense</i> Species of flowering plant

Hippeastrum correiense is a flowering perennial herbaceous bulbous plant, in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to Brazil.

<i>Hippeastrum psittacinum</i> Species of flowering plant

Hippeastrum psittacinum is a flowering perennial herbaceous bulbous plant, in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to Brazil.

References

  1. 1 2 Moraes, L. (2016). "Worsleya procera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T107250165A107302241. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Worsleya procera", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , retrieved 2012-12-29
  3. ↑ The Plant List
  4. ↑ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  5. ↑ Tropicos, Worsleya (W. Watson ex Traub) Traub
  6. ↑ Mabberley, David (May 3, 2002). "pbs New wiki photos Worsleya bloom" . Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  7. ↑ Mabberley, David (1987). The plant-book. A portable dictionary of the higher plants. Cambridge University Press.
  8. ↑ Traub, Hamilton Paul 1944. Herbertia 10: 89
  9. ↑ Martinelli, Gustavo (1989). Campos de Altitude. <not stated>: Editora index. pp. 70–78.
  10. ↑ Everard, Barbara; Morley, Brian D. (1970). Wildflowers of the World. New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons. p. Plate 190 with caption.
  11. ↑ 1871 illustration from Hooker, Joseph Dalton. Curtis's Botanical Magazine, volume 97 Series 3, issue 27, plate 5883, as Amaryllis rayneri
  12. ↑ Lemaire, (Antoine) Charles. 1864. L'illustration horticole 11: t. 408. as Hippeastrum procerum.
  13. ↑ Duchartre, Pierre Étienne Simon. 1863. Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France 10: 75. as Amaryllis procera nom illeg., not Salisbury 1796.
  14. ↑ Traub, Hamilton Paul & Moldenke, Harold Norman. 1949. Amaryllis Manual 23. as Worsleya rayneri
  15. ↑ MEIRELLES, S. T., PIVELLO, V. R., & JOLY, C. A. (1999). The vegetation of granite rock outcrops in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the need for its protection. Environmental Conservation, 26(1), 10–20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44519516
  16. ↑ Empress of Brazil (Worsleya procera). (n.d.). Gardens by the Bay. Retrieved April 19, 2023, from https://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/learn-with-us/explore-resources/whats-blooming/empress-of-brazil-worsleya-procera.html
  17. ↑ Dutilh, J. A. H. (2003, August). "Ornamental bulbous plants of Brazil." In V International Symposium on New Floricultural Crops 683 (pp. 37-42).
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