Spermacoceae

Knoxia sumatrensis, copyright Vinayaraj.

Belongs within: Rubioideae.
Contains: Crusea, Hedyotis.

The Spermacoceae are a clade of herbs and subshrubs supported by molecular analysis. Species previously treated as separate tribes Hedyotideae and Knoxieae are nested within Spermacoceae as historically defined (Bremer & Manen 2000).

Characters (from Bremer & Manen 2000): Herbs or subshrubs (occasionally small trees). Stipules fimbriate. Flowers quite often heterostylous. Ovary 1-5- or often 2-locular, with many to single ovules in each locule. Fruits dry, dehiscent or indehishent, or rarely fleshy with many to single seeds. Pollen often 3-colporate-pluricolpate. Chromosome basic number very variable x=6-17 with 2-20-ploidy levels.

<==Spermacoceae [Hedyotideae, Manettieae, Triainolepideae]
    |--+--Hedyotis BM00
    |  `--+--Agathisanthemum bojeri BM00
    |     `--Pentodon pentandrus BM00
    `--+--Parapentas silvatica BM00
       `--+--Pentas lanceolata BM00
          `--+--Triainolepis hildebrandtii BM00
             `--Knoxieae BM00
                  |--Pentanisia BM00
                  |    |--P. longituba BM00
                  |    `--P. microphylla BM00
                  `--Knoxia BM00
                       |--K. diandra P03
                       |--K. platycarpa BM00
                       |--K. stricta LK14
                       `--K. sumatrensis P03

Spermacoceae incertae sedis:
  Amphiasma BM00
    |--A. divaricatum CV06
    |--A. luzuloides BM00
    `--A. merenskyanum CV06
  Arcytophyllum aristaum BM00
  Batopedina pulvinellata BM00
  Carphalea [incl. Dirichletia] BM00
    `--C. glaucescens RB01
  Conostomium quadrangulare BM00
  Diodia BM00
    |--D. sarmentosa BM00
    |--D. teres H93
    `--D. virginiana S00
  Hemidiodia ocimifolia BM00
  Kohautia BM00
    |--K. amboensis CV06
    |--K. aspera PP07
    |--K. azurea CV06
    `--K. caespitosa BM00
  Lelya prostrata BM00
  Mitracarpum BM00
    |--M. decumbens J87
    `--M. villosum BM00
  Oldenlandia BM00
    |--O. biflora [incl. Ludwigia trifolia Burm. f. 1768] R77
    |--O. corymbosa BM00
    |--O. crouchiana LK14
    |--O. delicata LK14
    |--O. diffusa VB02
    |--O. galioides LK14
    |--O. goreensis BM00
    |--O. herbacea C55
    |--O. kochiae LK14
    |--O. largiflorens LK14
    |--O. mitrasacmoides LK14
    `--O. spermacocoides LK14
  Otiophora cupheoidea BM00
  Otomeria oculata BM00
  Paratriainia xerophila BM00
  Pentanopsis fragrans BM00
  Phylohydrax carnosa BM00
  Placopoda virgata BM00
  Psyllocarpus laricoides BM00
  Richardia BM00
    |--R. brasiliensis ACW01
    |--R. pilosa BM00
    `--R. scabra LK14
  Chaemepentas BM00
  Crusea BM00
  Dentella pulvinata Airy-Shaw 1934 [incl. D. repens Black 1929 (preoc.)] BM00, BR65
  Dibrachionostylus BM00
  Dolichometra BM00
  Hedythyrsus BM00
  Lucya BM00
  Manostachya BM00
  Mitrasacmopsis BM00
  Neohymenopogon BM00
  Nodocapaea BM00
  Pseudohedyotis BM00
  Schwendera BM00
  Synaptantha BM00
    |--S. scleranthoides LK14
    `--S. tillaeacea BM00 (see below for synonymy)
  Staelia BM00
  Thecorchus BM00
  Thyridocalyx BM00

Synaptantha tillaeacea BM00 [=Hedyotis tillaeacea Mueller 1863 BR65, Oldenlandia tillaeacea Mueller 1882 BR65; incl. H. elatinoides Bentham 1866 BR65]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[ACW01] Aguilar, H., C. C. Childers & W. C. Welbourn. 2001. Relative abundance and seasonal occurrence of mites in the family Tydeidae on citrus in Florida. In: Halliday, R. B., D. E. Walter, H. C. Proctor, R. A. Norton & M. J. Colloff (eds) Acarology: Proceedings of the 10^th International Congress pp. 376–380. CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.

[BR65] Black, J. M., & E. L. Robertson. 1965. Flora of South Australia. Part IV. Oleaceae–Compositae. W. L. Hawes, Government Printer: Adelaide.

[BM00] Bremer, B., & J.-F. Manen. 2000. Phylogeny and classification of the subfamily Rubioideae (Rubiaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 225: 43–72.

[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. 2. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.

[CV06] Craven, P., & P. Vorster. 2006. Patterns of plant diversity and endemism in Namibia. Bothalia 36 (2): 175–189.

[H93] Hickman, J. C. (ed.) 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press: Berkeley (California).

[J87] Judd, W. S. 1987. Floristic study of Morne La Visite and Pic Macaya National Parks, Haiti. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum—Biological Sciences 32 (1): 1–136.

[LK14] Lyons, M. N., G. J. Keighery, L. A. Gibson & T. Handasyde. 2014. Flora and vegetation communities of selected islands off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 81: 205–244.

[PP07] Pandey, R. P., & P. M. Padhye. 2007. Studies on phytodiversity of Arid Machia Safari Park-Kailana in Jodhpur (Rajasthan). Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 49: 15–78.

[P03] Paul, T. K. 2003. Botanical observations on the Purulia pumped storage hydropower project area, Bagmundi Hills, Purulia district, West Bengal. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 45: 121–142.

[R77] Raven, P. H. 1977. Onagraceae. Flora Malesiana, Series I—Spermatophyta, Flowering Plants 8 (2): 98–113.

[RB01] Razafimandimbison, S. G., & B. Bremer. 2001. Tribal delimitation of Naucleeae (Cinchonoideae, Rubiaceae): inference from molecular and morphological data. Systematics and Geography of Plants 71: 515–538.

[S00] Siddiqi, M. R. 2000. Tylenchida: Parasites of plants and insects 2^nd ed. CABI Publishing: Wallingford (UK).

[VB02] Vijay, S. K., & T. N. Bhardwaja. 2002. Vegetation and phenodynamics of wetlands of central Rajasthan. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 99 (3): 573–581.

Last updated: 14 March 2020.