Humbert & Leroy, Fl. Madagascar, fam. 180, p. 148 (1971), fig.1-6
Full name and orig. publication: Colpogyne B.L.Burtt, in Humbert & Leroy, Fl. Madagascar et Comores 180: 150 (April-June 1971).
Etymology: Composed of the Latin colpus = colpus, furrow, channel, and the Greek γυνη, gynē = woman, female, pertaining to female floral organs; the name refers to the ovary, the outer and inner surface of which is distinctly channelled.
Synonyms: -
Infrafamilial position: Didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae - "African and Madagascan genera” (Weber 2004).
Description: Perennial rosette herbs with short rhizome. Leaves apparently alternate, sessile or with short petiole, lamina oblong-lanceolate, base attenuate, margin crenate-serrate, woolly-hairy on both sides. Cymes with long peduncle, few- to several- flowered, flowers not regularly in pairs, without bracteoles. Sepals nearly free to base, oval-elliptical. Corolla white or with purple margins, short-tubed, campanulate, limb actinomorphic, lobes small, reflexed. Stamens 2; filaments inserted near corolla base, ± of same length as corolla tube; anthers divergent. Nectary annular, somewhat lobed. Ovary short, ovoid, somewhat compressed, with dorsal and ventral invaginations; style short; stigma capitate. Fruit a short, straight (not twisted) capsule. Seeds verrucose.
Chromosome number: Unknown.
Type and only species: Colpogyne betsiliensis (Humbert) B.L.Burtt
Distribution: Central Madagascar.
Ecology: Growing on shaded and moist gneiss and quartzitic rocks and rock crevices in forest.
Notes: The genus is closely allied to Streptocarpus, and has evolved from within a group of Madagascan species of subg. Streptocarpus (O’Sullivan 1999). It is distinguished by the small, short-tubed, cup-shaped, actinomorphic corolla and the short, straight fruits.
Selected references: O’Sullivan, MSc-Thesis, University of Edinburgh (1999), molec. syst.
Bibliography: See Skog, L.E. & J.K. Boggan. 2005. Bibliography of the Gesneriaceae. 2nd edition: http://persoon.si.edu/Gesneriaceae/Bibliography.
Illustrations:
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Colpogyne betsiliensis (Humbert) B.L.Burtt
Humbert & Leroy, Fl. Madagascar, fam. 180, p. 148 (1971), fig.1-6 |
last modified: 2007-07-13