Gnidia

Gnidia
Gnidia tomentosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Thymelaeaceae
Genus: Gnidia
L.
Species

140-160, see text

Gnidia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Thymelaeaceae. It is distributed in Africa, Madagascar, Arabia, India, and Sri Lanka; more than half of all the species are endemic to South Africa.[1] Gnidia was named for Knidos, an Ancient Greek city located in modern-day Turkey.[2]

These are perennial herbs and shrubs, sometimes with rhizomes. Most species have alternately arranged leaves, and a few have opposite leaves. The leaves are undivided and unlobed. The inflorescence is a head of a few to many flowers. The calyx is cylindrical and the colored lobes may alternate with the petals; some species lack petals.[2] Many species are similar in appearance and difficult to tell apart.[3]

Molecular analyses have provided evidence that the genus is polyphyletic, made up of four different lineages. They are related to the four genera Struthiola, Drapetes, Lasiosiphon, and Pimelea.[4]

There are 140 to 160 species classified in the genus.[1][2][5]

Species include:

Gnidia polystachya
Gnidia glauca

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rogers, Z. S. (2006). A new species of Malagasy Gnidia and the lectotypification of Octolepis decalepis (Thymelaeaceae). Adansonia, sér. 3(28), 155-60.
  2. 1 2 3 Hyde, M. A., et al. Gnidia. Flora of Zimbabwe. 2013.
  3. Beaumont, A. J., et al. (2001). Patterns of diversity among involucral bracts, inflorescences and flowers in Gnidia (Thymelaeaceae). Systematics and Geography of Plants 71(2), 419-31.
  4. Beaumont, A. J., et al. (2009). Gnidia (Thymelaeaceae) is not monophyletic: taxonomic implications for Thymelaeoideae and a partial new generic taxonomy for Gnidia. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 160(4), 402-17.
  5. Bhandurge, P., et al. (2013). The Gnidia genus: A review. Asian Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences 3(19), 1-31.
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