Aphelandra

Aphelandra sinclairiana

Aphelandra is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae ( Acanthaceae ). It contains about 170 to 180 species. The botanical genus name is derived from the Greek words aphéles for easy and Aner, Andros for man. For the genus are occasionally German name " Glanzkölbchen " is used, but this is actually only the common name for the most common used as a house plant type, the Glanzkölbchen ( Aphelandra squarrosa ); the trivial name refers to the tough, shiny bracts of showy inflorescence of a kind

Description

Aphelandra species usually grow as erect shrubs, half- shrubs or woody at its base, perennial herbaceous plants. The oppositely arranged and constantly stalked leaves are usually simple and relatively large. The leaf margins are smooth, lobed, notched or serrated prickly. Stipules absent.

The flowers are borne in terminal or pendent inflorescences aged men. The usually large, showy bracts have a smooth or toothed margins; their arrangement gives the inflorescence in many species a four edgy look. The sessile, often large, hermaphroditic flowers are zygomorphic and fünfzählig. The five sepals are more or less the same or a calyx lobe is much broader. The five petals are fused tube- to funnel-shaped. The corolla tube is straight or curved. The corolla tube ends two-lipped. The upright upper lip is more than slightly bilobed. The back sometimes curved lower lip is three-lobed. The color of the petals ranging from white or yellow to orange to red. The four fertile stamens protrude from the crown or are shorter than the lower lip. Two carpels are a superior ovaries fused with two ovules per ovary chamber. The long style ends in a most weakly bilobed scar. Pollination is by birds ( Ornithophilie ).

The zweifächerigen capsule fruits contain four seeds. The seeds are silky hairs. The distribution unit ( diaspore ) is the seed.

Distribution and systematics

The Aphelandra species are widespread in the Neotropics, except on the Caribbean islands.

The genus belongs to the tribe Aphelandra Acantheae in the subfamily Acanthoideae.

Synonyms for Aphelandra R.Br. are: amathea Raf, Cuenotia Rizzini, Hemisandra Scheidw, Hydromestus Scheidw, Lagochilium Nees, Lepidacanthus C.Presl, Odontophyllum Sreem, Sreemadhavana Rauschert, Strobilorhachis Klotzsch, Synandra Schrad ... .. .

Selected species

There are in the genus Aphelandra about 170 to 180 valid species:

  • Aphelandra acanthifolia Hook.
  • Aphelandra acanthus Nees
  • Aphelandra aurantiaca Lindl.
  • Aphelandra benoistii Wassh.
  • Aphelandra chrysantha Wassh.
  • Aphelandra cirsioides Lindau
  • Aphelandra flava Nees
  • Aphelandra formosa ( Humboldt & Bonpland ) Nees
  • Aphelandra grangeri Leonard
  • Aphelandra mutisii Leonard
  • Aphelandra phaina Wassh.
  • Aphelandra pulcherrima ( Jacq. ) Kunth (syn.: Aphelandra incerta Leonard )
  • Aphelandra scabra ( Vahl ) Sm
  • Aphelandra sinclairiana Nees
  • Glanzkölbchen ( Aphelandra squarrosa Nees )
  • Aphelandra superba Lindau
  • Aphelandra tetragona ( Vahl ) Nees

Swell

  • Dieter C. Wasshausen: The Genus Aphelandra ( Acanthaceae ), in Smithsonian Contributions to Botany, 18, Washington, 1975: pp. 1-157.
  • Kamal Akhtar Malik Abdul Ghafoor &: Aphelandra in the Flora of Pakistan: Online.
  • Entry in GRIN ( Germplasm Resources Information Network) - Aphelandra.
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