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(Last Modified On 8/6/2013)
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(Last Modified On 8/6/2013)
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Genus
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Codonanthe (Mart.) Hanst.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Linnaea 26: 209. 1854, nom. cons
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Synonym
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Hypocyrta sect. Codonanthe Mart., Nov. Gen. 3: 1829. TYPE: Hypocyrta gracilis Mart. = Codonanthe gracilis (Mart.) Hanst. Coccanthera C. Koch & Hanst., Ind. Sem. Hort. Reg. Bot. Berol. 1855: App. 17. 1855. TYPE: C. devosiana (Lem.) C. Koch & Hanst. = Codonanthe devosiana Lem. Codonanthopsis Mansf., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 36: 120. 1934. TYPE: C. ilei Mansf. = Codonanthe ulei (Mansf.) H. E. Moore.
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Description
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Epiphytic shrubs or lianas or herbs, usually growing on ants' nests; branches few, stems pendent, repent, or erect, to 2 m tall, becoming woody; adventitious roots and/or extrafloral nectaries sometimes produced from the nodes. Leaves opposite, equal to rarely strongly unequal in a pair; blades fleshy, becoming coriaceous when dry, entire, sinuate or serrulate toward the apex, often with reddish extrafloral nectaries on the lower surface; petioles usually short. In- florescences of one or few flowers in the upper leaf axils; peduncles, if present, very short; bracts lacking; pedicels short. Flowers with the calyx 5-lobed or bi- labiate, when 5-lobed the lobes nearly equal to very unequal, the dorsal lobe often recurved; corolla white, pink, lilac, yellow, or deep purplish, often with reddish lines or spots, oblique in the calyx, the tube funnelform to subcampanu- late, the base spurred or rounded, gradually or abruptly broader toward the throat, or somewhat compressed or grooved, the limb spreading, of 5 rounded lobes; stamens 4, inserted at the base of the corolla tube, included, the filaments adnate to the base of the corolla tube, briefly connate at the base, recoiled or lowered after pollen shed, the anthers laterally oblong, coherent in pairs by tips or sides, later separating, dehiscing by pores; disc a single dorsal nectary, usually large; ovary superior with 2 parietal placentas ovuliferous on the inner side, the style included but elongating after pollen shed, the stigma bilobed to stomato- morphic. Fruit a fleshy berrylike capsule, tardily dehiscent or dehiscing by 2 valves, globose, ovoid, or compressed, red, pink, orange, or yellow green; seeds colored red, pink, or yellow, fusiform or ellipsoid, obliquely striate, the funicle often fleshy or the seed surrounded by an ari]. Chromosomes n = 8 or 16 (Wiehler, 1975b).
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Habit
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shrubs or lianas or herbs
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Distribution
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Codonanthe is a genus of about 15 species that occurs from Mexico to Brazil, and from the Lesser Antilles to Peru and Bolivia.
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Note
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Several species are in cultivation as house or greenhouse plants where they tolerate the less moist and warm conditions than are available in their usual wild habitats in moist forests. Plants are usually associated with ants in various ways. The plants seem to be epiphytic on nests of ants, and the plants often have extrafloral nectaries on the undersides of the leaves, between the bases of the calyx lobes, or at the nodes. The colored seeds are covered by a gelatinous aril or have a funicle that may be associated with ant dispersal. The name Codonanthe was probably chosen by Martius to refer to the sub- campanulate corolla in some of the species.
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Reference
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Moore, H. E. 1973. A synopsis of the genus Codonanthe [Gesneriaceae]. Baileya 19: 4-33. Prance, G. T. 1973. Gesneriads in the ant gardens of the Amazon. The Gloxinian 23(1): 2-28. Smith, L. B. 1933. Spathuliforme, a new section of Codonanthe. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 60: 657-658. Stone, M. H. 1977. Codonanthe. The Gloxinian 27(5): 18-24. Wiehler, H. J. 1975a. Ant nest epiphytes as banging basket plants. Bull. Marie Selby Bot. Gard. 2(1): 7-8. Wiehler, H.J. 1975b. Codonanthe luteola (Gesneriaceae), a new species from Pan- ama. Selbyana 1: 157-164. Wiehler, H. J. 1977. Cultivated species of Codonanthe. The Gloxinian 27(1): 5-7.
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Key
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a. Anther sacs bearing two horns near the pore; calyx lobes with prominent raised midvein; leaves oblanceolate, less often elliptic or obovate in outline, margin prom- inently toothed and usually sparsely dentate, seldom entire; stems erect at least at the tips; fruiting pedicels curved in fruit ...... 5. C. uleana aa. Anther sacs lacking horns; calyx lobes flat or curved without raised midvein; leaves of various outline, usually not oblanceolate, margin almost always entire or sinuate toward the apex; stems repent or pendent, ascending only in C. chiricana; fruiting pedicels not noticeably curved. b. Corolla tube white with a red area inside throat, or if red area not obvious then tube arcuate, 2.0-3.5 cm long, 2 prominent ridges on the inner lower side; capsule ovoid and acute to acuminate, dehiscing by 2 recurving valves ...... 4. C. macradenia bb. Corolla tube yellowish or white, but without the red area within near throat, tube straight on dorsal side, usually smaller or larger than C. macradenia, lacking ridges within; capsule tardily dehiscent and subglobose, or condition at dehiscence unknown. c. Stems ascending; spur spotted red, corolla tube ca. 3.5 cm long ...... 1. C. chiricana cc. Stems pendent or repent; spur not reddish unless tube of corolla more than 3.5 cm long. d. Corolla white, with or without a pink flush on lobes, yellow on lower inner surface, tube 1.2-1.8 cm long; calyx lobes puberlous ...... 2. C. crassifolia dd. Corolla yellowish throughout, except spur reddish, tube more than 3.6 cm long; calyx lobes hirsute ...... 3. C. luteola
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