Mohavea

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Mohavea
Mohavea confertiflora 1.jpg
Mohavea confertiflora
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Tribe: Antirrhineae
Genus: Mohavea
A.Gray
Species

Mohavea breviflora
Mohavea confertiflora

Mohavea is a plant genus consisting of two species native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. This genus is often included in the closely related snapdragon genus Antirrhinum . [1]

Contents

Taxonomy

Formerly included in the family Scrophulariaceae, the genus is now included in Plantaginaceae. The two species are both notable annuals flowering in the spring: the lesser mohavea, Mohavea breviflora , has small yellow flowers, while the ghost flower, Mohavea confertiflora , features large pale flowers with a pattern of purple spots.

Etymology

The genus name is derived from the Mojave River, where specimens were first collected by John C. Fremont. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Antirrhinum</i> Genus of plants

Antirrhinum is a genus of plants commonly known as dragon flowers or snapdragons because of the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed. They are native to rocky areas of Europe, the United States, and North Africa. It is widely used as an ornamental plant in borders and as a cut flower.

<i>Linaria</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae

Linaria is a genus of 150 species of flowering plants, one of several related groups commonly called toadflax. They are annuals and herbaceous perennials, and the largest genus in the Antirrhineae tribe of the plantain family Plantaginaceae.

Floral symmetry Shape of flowers

Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts.

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

Mimulus is a plant genus in the family Phrymaceae, which was traditionally placed in family Scrophulariaceae. The genus now contains only seven species, two native to eastern North America and the other five native to Asia, Australia, Africa, or Madagascar. In the past, about 150 species were placed in this genus, most of which have since been assigned to other genera, the majority to genus Erythranthe.

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

Nuttallanthus is a genus of four species of herbaceous annuals and perennials that was traditionally placed in the foxglove family Scrophulariaceae. Due to new genetic research, it has now been placed in the vastly expanded family Plantaginaceae. Three species of Nuttallanthus are native to North America and one to South America. Nuttallanthus was until the 1980s included in a wider circumscription of the genus Linaria, a genus now considered restricted to the Old World.

<i>Mentzelia involucrata</i> Species of flowering plant

Mentzelia involucrata is a species of Mentzelia native to the Mojave and Sonoran deserts of North America as well as places in Nevada, Arizona and Baja California (Mexico). Its common names include kuʼu, sand blazing star and white-bract blazing star.

<i>Antirrhinum majus</i> Species of flowering plant

Antirrhinum majus, the common snapdragon, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the genus Antirrhinum. The plant was placed in the family Plantaginaceae following a revision of its prior classical family, Scrophulariaceae.

<i>Misopates orontium</i> Species of flowering plant

Misopates orontium, known as weasel's snout, is a herbaceous annual plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is a native of disturbed ground in Europe. It is also naturalised as a weed in other parts of the world such as North America. The pink flowers resemble a miniature snapdragon and are followed by a hairy green fruit which is said to resemble a weasel's snout.

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

Lophospermum is a genus of herbaceous perennial climbers or scramblers, native to mountainous regions of Mexico and Guatemala. Those that climb use twining leaf stalks. Their flowers are tubular, in shades of red, violet and purple, the larger flowers being pollinated by hummingbirds. Now placed in the greatly expanded family Plantaginaceae, the genus was traditionally placed in the Scrophulariaceae. The close relationship with some other genera, particularly Maurandya and Rhodochiton, has led to confusion over the names of some species.

The MADS box is a conserved sequence motif. The genes which contain this motif are called the MADS-box gene family. The MADS box encodes the DNA-binding MADS domain. The MADS domain binds to DNA sequences of high similarity to the motif CC[A/T]6GG termed the CArG-box. MADS-domain proteins are generally transcription factors. The length of the MADS-box reported by various researchers varies somewhat, but typical lengths are in the range of 168 to 180 base pairs, i.e. the encoded MADS domain has a length of 56 to 60 amino acids. There is evidence that the MADS domain evolved from a sequence stretch of a type II topoisomerase in a common ancestor of all extant eukaryotes.

Antirrhinum subbaeticum is a species of plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is endemic to Spain. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss. It originated in Italy but was Introduced into Spain. Antirrhinum subbaeticum is a beautiful perennial herb found only in the eastern Andalusia mountain ranges of Spain. It is a member of the genus Antirrhinum, which comprises some 25 species that are mainly found in the western Mediterranean region. The genus name comes from the Greek words ‘anti, which means opposite, and rhis, meaning snout, and refers to the lopsided petals on the flowers. The flowers of Antirrhinum subbaeticum are densely clustered into an attractive inflorescence, borne on a branching stem measuring 20 to 30 cm in height. The stem is densely covered in short hairs. The petals are pink, with white centres, and have dark purple veins running across them. The leaves are fairly fleshy and elliptical, and are arranged in opposite pairs near the bottom of the plant, but at alternate points nearer the top of the plant. The Antirrhinum Subbaticum is endemic to Spain. Its natural habitat is rocky areas. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Hyles livornica</i> Species of moth

Hyles livornica, the striped hawk-moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae.

Pseudorontium is a genus of flowering plants with one species, Pseudorontium cyathiferum, a New World snapdragon known by the common names dog's-mouth and Deep Canyon snapdragon. It is native to the deserts of northern Mexico and adjacent California and Arizona. It is an annual herb producing a hairy, erect, non-climbing stem with many oval-shaped leaves. The solitary flowers are dark-veined deep purple and white, often with some yellow in the throat, and are about a centimeter long. Previously considered to belong among the New World Antirrhinum species, it is now considered the sole member of the related genus Pseudorontium.

<i>Antirrhinum filipes</i> Species of flowering plant

Antirrhinum filipes is an annual species of North American snapdragon, usually known by the common name yellow twining snapdragon. This herbaceous plant is native to deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it is common.

<i>Salvia</i> Largest genus of plants in the mint family

Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the sage family Lamiaceae, with nearly 1000 species of shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Within the Lamiaceae, Salvia is part of the tribe Mentheae within the subfamily Nepetoideae. One of several genera commonly referred to as sage, it includes two widely used herbs, Salvia officinalis and Salvia rosmarinus.

<i>Mohavea breviflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Mohavea breviflora is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names golden desert-snapdragon and lesser mohavea. It is native to the southwestern United States, including the Mojave Desert and surrounding areas. It is a hairy annual herb growing erect to a maximum height near 20 centimeters. The alternately arranged leaves are lance-shaped. Flowers occur in the leaf axils. They are about 2 centimeters wide and divided into an upper lip with two lobes and a swollen lower lip with three. The flower is yellow with scattered red speckles.

<i>Oreocallis</i> Monotypic genus of plants in the family Proteaceae from Peru and Ecuador

Oreocallis is a South American plant genus in the family Proteaceae. There is only one species, Oreocallis grandiflora, which is native to mountainous regions in Peru and Ecuador.

Antirrhineae Tribe of flowering plants

The Antirrhineae are one of the 12 tribes of the family Plantaginaceae. It contains the toadflax relatives, such as snapdragons. They are probably most closely related to the turtlehead tribe (Cheloneae) and/or a large and badly resolved core group of their family including plants as diverse as water-starworts (Callitriche), foxgloves (Digitalis), and speedwell (Veronica). The Antirrhineae include about 30 genera with roughly 320 species, of which 150 are in genus Linaria. The type genus is AntirrhinumL.

Solanaceae Family of flowering plants that includes tomatoes, potatoes and tobacco

The Solanaceae, or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and ornamentals. Many members of the family contain potent alkaloids, and some are highly toxic, but many—including tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, bell and chili peppers—are used as food. The family belongs to the order Solanales, in the asterid group and class Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons). The Solanaceae consists of about 98 genera and some 2,700 species, with a great diversity of habitats, morphology and ecology.

Pelorism

Pelorism is the term, said to be first used by Charles Darwin, for the formation of 'peloric flowers' which botanically is the abnormal production of actinomorphic flowers in a species that usually produces zygomorphic flowers. These flowers are spontaneous floral symmetry mutants. The term epanody is also applied to this phenomenon. Bilaterally symmetrical (zygomorphic) flowers are known to have evolved several times from radially symmetrical (actinomorphic) flowers, these changes being linked to increasing specialisation in pollinators.

References

  1. Oyama, R. K.; Baum, D. A. (2004). "Phylogenetic relationships of North American Antirrhinum (Veronicaceae)". American Journal of Botany. 91 (6): 918–925. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.6.918. PMID   21653448.
  2. Jepson Manual Treatment