Gentianales

Curtia tenuifolia, copyright D. Zappi.

Belongs within: Lamiidae.
Contains: Apocynaceae, Exaceae, Chironieae, Gentianeae, Helieae, Potaliinae, Faroinae, Lisianthius, Loganiaceae, Rubiaceae.

The Gentianales are an order of flowering plants including the major families Rubiaceae, Gentianaceae, Loganiaceae and Apocynaceae (including asclepiadoids). Members of the clade other than Rubiaceae are united by the possession of internal phloem. Within the Gentianales, the Gelsemiaceae are a small group of tropical and subtropical shrubs and lianas. Dialypetalanthus is a tree found in the Amazon basin that is distinctive within the clade in possessing flowers with free petals and several stamens.

The Gentianaceae have actinomorphic flowers with fused petals and sepals, and stamens attached to the inside of the petals. Fruit are usually dehiscent capsules, rarely berries. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the Neotropical Saccifolieae, a morphologically diverse group possessing flowers with anthers bearing broad and often extended connectives, represent the sister group to the remaining Gentianaceae (Struwe et al. 2002). Within the Saccifolieae, Curtia is a genus of erect annual herbs found from Mexico to Argentina. Saccifolium bandeirae is a shrub with corky-barked branches found on the highest peaks of tepuis along the Brazil-Venezuela border; it has closely arranged, pitcher-shaped leaves that are unique within the family. Voyriella parviflora is an erect, perennial herb found in tropical South America and Panama that is saprophytic, lacking chlorophyll. Voyria is another saprophytic genus of uncertain affinities found in northern South America, with a single species present in western Africa.

Characters (from Backlund et al. 2000): Mostly woody with opposite, entire leaves, often with stipules and colleters. Flowers usually regular, pentamerous; endosperm formation nuclear. Indole alkaloids present.

Gentianales [Rubiales] BJ99
    |  i. s.: Dialypetalanthus [Dialypetalanthaceae] T00
    |         Apocynaceae BJ99
    |--Gentianaceae (see below for synonymy) SK02
    |    |  i. s.: Schenkia australis KM08
    |    |         Voyria Aublet 1775 [incl. Leiphaimos; Leiphaimeae, Voyrieae] SK02
    |    |           |--*V. caerulea Aublet 1775 AS02
    |    |           |--V. acuminata BC02
    |    |           |--V. aphylla BC02
    |    |           |--V. aurantiaca BC02
    |    |           |--V. chionea SK02
    |    |           |--V. clavata BC02
    |    |           |--V. corymbosa BC02
    |    |           |    |--V. c. ssp. corymbosa BC02
    |    |           |    `--V. c. ssp. alba BC02
    |    |           |--V. flavescens BC02
    |    |           |--V. kupperi BC02
    |    |           |--V. obconica BC02
    |    |           |--V. parasitica BC02
    |    |           |--V. pittieri BC02
    |    |           |--V. primuloides SK02
    |    |           |--V. rosea BC02
    |    |           |--V. spruceana BC02
    |    |           |--V. tenella BC02
    |    |           |--V. tenuiflora BC02
    |    |           |--V. truncata BC02
    |    |           `--V. uniflora C55a
    |    |         Pistillipollenites macgregorii SK02
    |    |--+--Exaceae SK02
    |    |  `--+--Chironieae SK02
    |    |     `--+--Gentianeae SK02
    |    |        |--Helieae SK02
    |    |        `--Potalieae SK02
    |    |             |--Potaliinae SK02
    |    |             |--Faroinae SK02
    |    |             `--Lisianthius SK02
    |    `--Saccifolieae SK02
    |         |  i. s.: Hockinia Gardner 1843 SK02
    |         |           `--*H. montana SK02
    |         |         Tapeinostemon Bentham 1854 SK02 [incl. Stahelia Jonker 1948 N02]
    |         |           |--*T. spenneroides SK02 [=Stahelia spenneroides N02]
    |         |           |--T. capitatum N02
    |         |           |--T. longiflorum SK02
    |         |           |    |--T. l. var. longiflorum N02
    |         |           |    `--T. l. var. australe N02
    |         |           |--T. ptariense N02
    |         |           |--T. sessiliflorum SK02
    |         |           `--T. zamoranum SK02
    |         |--+--*Saccifolium bandeirae SK02
    |         |  `--Voyriella Miquel 1851 SK02
    |         |       `--*V. parviflora [incl. V. oxycarpha] SK02
    |         `--Curtia von Chamisso & von Schlechtendal 1826 SK02
    |              |--*C. gentianoides SK02
    |              |--C. conferta BC02
    |              |--C. confusa N02
    |              |--C. diffusa N02
    |              |--C. malmeana N02
    |              |--C. obtusifolia N02
    |              |--C. patula SK02
    |              |--C. quadrifolia N02
    |              |--C. stricta N02
    |              |--C. tenella [=C. tenuifolia ssp. tenella] N02
    |              |--C. tenuifolia SK02
    |              `--C. verticillaris SK02
    `--+--Loganiaceae SK02
       `--+--Rubiaceae SK02
          `--Gelsemiaceae [Gelsemieae] SK02
               |--Mostuea brunonis SB02
               |--Pteleocarpa [Pteleocarpaceae] APG16
               `--Gelsemium SK02
                    |--G. elegans SK02
                    `--G. sempervirens SB02

Gentianaceae [Chironiaceae, Coutoubeaceae, Gentianoideae, Obolariaceae, Potaliaceae, Saccifoliaceae, Saccifolioideae] SK02

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[AS02] Albert, V. A., & L. Struwe. 2002. Gentianaceae in context. In: Struwe, L., & V. A. Albert (eds) Gentianaceae: Systematics and Natural History pp. 1–20. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

[APG16] Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. 2016. An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 181: 1–20.

Backlund, M., B. Oxelman & B. Bremer. 2000. Phylogenetic relationships within the Gentianales based on ndhF and rbcL sequences, with particular reference to the Loganiaceae. American Journal of Botany 87 (7): 1029-1043.

[BC02] Bouman, F., L. Cobb, N. Devente, V. Goethals, P. J. M. Maas & E. Smets. 2002. The seeds of Gentianaceae. In: Struwe, L., & V. A. Albert (eds) Gentianaceae: Systematics and Natural History pp. 498–572. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

[BJ99] Bremer, B., R. K. Jansen, B. Oxelman, M. Backlund, H. Lantz & K.-J. Kim. 1999. More characters or more taxa for a robust phylogeny—case study from the coffee family (Rubiaceae). Systematic Biology 48 (3): 413–435.

[C55] Candolle, A. de. 1855. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 1. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.

[KM08] Keighery, G. J., & W. Muir. 2008. Vegetation and vascular flora of Faure Island, Shark Bay, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 75: 11–19.

[N02] Nilsson, S. 2002. Gentianaceae: a review of palynology. In: Struwe, L., & V. A. Albert (eds) Gentianaceae: Systematics and Natural History pp. 377–497. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

[SB02] Sennblad, B., & B. Bremer. 2002. Classification of Apocynaceae s.l. according to a new approach combining Linnaean and phylogenetic taxonomy. Systematic Biology 51 (3): 389–409.

[SK02] Struwe, L., J. W. Kadereit, J. Klackenberg, S. Nilsson, M. Thiv, K. B. von Hagen & V. A. Albert. 2002. Systematics, character evolution, and biogeography of Gentianaceae, including a new tribal and subtribal classification. In: Struwe, L., & V. A. Albert (eds) Gentianaceae: Systematics and Natural History pp. 21–309. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

[T00] Thorne, R. F. 2000. The classification and geography of the flowering plants: dicotyledons of the class Angiospermae (subclasses Magnoliidae, Ranunculidae, Caryophyllidae, Dilleniidae, Rosidae, Asteridae, and Lamiidae). The Botanical Review 66: 441–647.

Last updated: 27 December 2019.