Cosmocalyx

Cosmocalyx
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Cinchonoideae
Tribe: Hamelieae
Genus: Cosmocalyx
Standl.
Species: C. spectabilis
Binomial name
Cosmocalyx spectabilis
Standl.

Cosmocalyx is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. he genus contains only one species, viz. Cosmocalyx spectabilis, which is found in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala.[1]

Description

Cosmocalyx spectabilis is a slender tree, up to 15 m (49 ft) in height and 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter (dbh). After anthesis, one of the four calyx lobes expands into a reddish, leaf-like structure called a calycophyll. These facilitate dispersal of the fruit by wind. The fruit is a cylindrical indehiscent bilocular capsule. Each locule contains one basally inserted seed. This combination of characters distinguishes Cosmocalyx from other genera in Rubiaceae.[2]

Systematics

Cosmocalyx was named by Paul Standley in 1930.[3] The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek words, kosmos, meaning "order", and kalyx, "a calyx".[4]

Cosmocalyx is placed with Deppea, Hoffmannia, Hamelia and several other genera in the tribe Hamelieae. Relationships within this tribe are uncertain.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Cosmocalyx in the World Checklist of Rubiaceae". Retrieved June 2014. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  2. ↑ Delprete PG (1998). "Notes on calycophyllous Rubiaceae. Part III. Systematic position of the monotypic Mexican genus Cosmocalyx and notes on the calycophyll development". Brittonia. 50 (3): 309–317. doi:10.2307/2807774.
  3. ↑ Cosmocalyx page 56. In: Paul C. Standley. 1930. "Studies of American Plants – III". Field Museum of Natural History. Botanical series. 8(1):3-73.
  4. ↑ Quattrocchi U (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. 1. Boca Raton, New York, Washington DC, London: CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-2675-2.
  5. ↑ Manns U, Bremer B (2010). "Towards a better understanding of intertribal relationships and stable tribal delimitations within Cinchonoideae s.s. (Rubiaceae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 56 (1): 21–39. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.04.002. PMID 20382247.
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