Under Construction

Ruellia jaliscana clade

Erin Tripp
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Note: this taxon list is still under construction. It does not yet contain all known Ruellia jaliscana clade subgroups.

Containing group: Ruellia s. l.

Introduction

All species in the Ruellia jaliscana clade sampled by Tripp (in press) are endemic to Mexico. Generally, floral color cannot be used to diagnose clades within Ruellia, but this may be an exception in that all species lack floral anthocyanins, i. e., they possess yellow or white flowers. Nearly all species encountered "in the cellulose" have a pungent vegetative odor. This odor can be so strong that, upon entering a forest with large populations of one of these species, one can immediately sense the presence of these plants. Beyond this vegetative odor, at least one species in this clade produces a spicy, vanilla-like floral odor. Floral odors are very rare among all of Acanthaceae.

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window

Species in the Ruellia jaliscana clade have yellow or white flowers. Left: Ruellia conzattii. Center: Ruellia fruticosa. Right: Ruellia pringlei. Photographs © Erin Tripp.

Most species in this clade are, to varying degrees, rare in the wild (see Daniel 2003). Some are also endemic to a single state. There are a handful of other described species of Ruellia likely part of this clade, but they were not included in analyses due to a lack of material. Many of these are known only from the type collection and may be extinct in the wild.

Several species in this group have terminal inflorescences, which is notable in Ruellia. Based on the large, gibbous flowers of some members of this clade, Ramamoorthy (1991) established a new section (Chiropterophila) to accomodate some of them. Despite the sectional name, field work by Tripp & friends indicates that some species in this group are hummingbird-pollinated. Molecular data (Tripp in press, Tripp unpublished) suggest that the content of sect. Chiropterophila needs revisiting, thus a forthcoming revision of this section will be produced in subsequent months.

References

Daniel, T.F. 2003. New and reconsidered Mexican Acanthaceae X. Flora del Bajío region. Novon 13:37—48.

Ramamoorthy, T. P. 1991. Ruellia section Chiropterophila (Acanthaceae): A novelty from Mexico. Botanical Journal of the Linnaean Society 107:79-88.

Tripp, E. A. Evolutionary relationships within the species-rich genus Ruellia (Acanthaceae). Systematic Botany, in press.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Ruellia speciosa Lindau
Location Oaxaca, Mexico
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By Erin A. Tripp
Collector Tripp & Acosta
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Ruellia bourgaei Hemsl.
Location Jalisco, Mexico
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By Erin A. Tripp
Collector Tripp & L. Tripp
Copyright ©
Scientific Name Ruellia jaliscana Standl.
Location Jalisco, Mexico
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By Erin A. Tripp
Collector Tripp & Deregibus
Copyright ©
About This Page


Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Erin Tripp at

All Rights Reserved.

Citing this page:

Tripp, Erin. 2007. Ruellia jaliscana clade. Version 10 April 2007 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Ruellia_jaliscana_clade/96996/2007.04.10 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Ruellia jaliscana clade

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top