A locule ( pl. : locules ) or loculus ( Latin for 'little place'; pl. : loculi ) is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism ( animal , plant , or fungus ).
20-581: The Gesnerioideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Gesneriaceae : based on the type genus Gesneria . Although genera typically originate in the New World, some species have become widely distributed as ornamental plants. Gesnerioideae is one of two main subfamilies in the Gesneriaceae, the other being Didymocarpoideae . (The third subfamily, Sanangoideae, contains only the genus Sanango .) Gesnerioideae seedlings have normal cotyledons of
40-543: A unilocular rather than bilocular ovary, with parietal rather than axile placentation. "Gesneriaceae" is a conserved name ( nom. cons. ), meaning that although alternative, less well used names for the family were published earlier, the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants specifies this as the name to be used. It was published by Louis Claude Richard and Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1816. In 1829, Barthélemy Dumortier divided
60-478: A few are woody shrubs or small trees . The phyllotaxy is usually opposite and decussate , but leaves have a spiral or alternate arrangement in some groups. As with other members of the Lamiales the flowers have a (usually) zygomorphic corolla whose petals are fused into a tube and there is no one character that separates a gesneriad from any other member of Lamiales. Gesneriads differ from related families of
80-618: A uniform synapomorphy ). Gesnerioideae seedlings have normal cotyledons of the same size and shape (isocotylous). The cotyledons of Didymocarpoideae are usually, but not always, eventually different in size and shape (anisocotylous). One cotyledon ceases to grow and withers away, while the other continues to grow, and may even form a very large leaf that is the only one the plant has ( Monophyllaea , some Streptocarpus ). Gesnerioideae flowers usually have four fertile stamens , rarely two or five. Didymocarpoideae flowers usually have two fertile stamens, less often four, rarely one or five. On
100-531: Is an international horticultural society devoted to the promotion, cultivation, and study of Gesneriaceae. From about 1997 onwards, molecular phylogenetic studies led to extensive changes in the classification of the family Gesneriaceae and its genera, many of which have been re-circumscribed or synonymized . New species are still being discovered, particularly in Asia, and may further change generic boundaries. A consensus phylogeny used to build classifications of
120-531: The Old World (almost all Didymocarpoideae ) and the New World (most Gesnerioideae ), with a very small number extending to temperate areas. Many species have colorful and showy flowers and are cultivated as ornamental plants. The family name is based on the genus Gesneria , which honours Swiss naturalist and humanist Conrad Gessner . Most species are herbaceous perennials or subshrubs but
140-958: The monophyly of all the subfamilies and tribes. It resolved Peltanthera as sister to a clade of Calceolariaceae and Gesneriaceae. Within the Gesnerioideae, Napeantheae rather than Titanotricheae was found to be sister to the remaining tribes. The position of Titanotricheae varied according to the method used to build the cladogram, which the authors suggested was due to incomplete lineage sorting following rapid divergence. The phylogenetic position of Titanotrichum remains unsettled. Napeantheae ( Napeanthus ) Titanotricheae ( Titanotrichum ) Beslerieae Coronanthereae Gesnerieae Napeantheae ( Napeanthus ) Beslerieae Titanotricheae ( Titanotrichum ) Coronanthereae Gesnerieae The genus Sanango has not always been included in Gesneriaceae. However, molecular phylogenetic studies published up to and including 2021 suggest that it does belong in
160-488: The "Didymocarpidae" (a name which corresponds to the modern Didymocarpoideae), not in Gesneriaceae, but in Acanthaceae . Since about 1997, phylogenetic studies , mostly based on molecular approaches , have resulted in major changes to the traditional taxonomy and classification of the family Gesneriaceae, at every level from genus upwards. A classification published in 2020 divides the subfamily into five tribes. With
180-503: The Lamiales in having an unusual inflorescence structure, the "pair-flowered cyme", but some gesneriads lack this characteristic, and some other Lamiales ( Calceolariaceae and some Scrophulariaceae ) share it. The ovary can be superior, half-inferior or fully inferior, and the fruit a dry or fleshy capsule or a berry . The seeds are always small and numerous. Gesneriaceae have traditionally been separated from Scrophulariaceae by having
200-738: The New World species (i.e. the subfamily Gesnerioideae) are co-adapted to bird pollination , particularly by hummingbirds in the Americas. Bird-pollinated species typically have two-lipped flowers in shades of red; examples are found in the genera Asteranthera , Columnea and Sinningia . Among Old World genera, Aeschynanthus has similar flowers. Some genera in the family are grown as ornamental plants , both as garden plants and as houseplants . Such genera include: Aeschynanthus , Achimenes , Columnea , Gesneria , Haberlea , Nematanthus (syn. Hypocyrta ), Ramonda , and Streptocarpus (Cape primroses, African violets). One of
220-564: The World Online (PoWO) as of August 2024 are listed below, together with their placement in a subfamily and tribe by Weber et al. (2020). Three genera are listed by PoWO but not by Weber et al. : Coptocheile Hoffmanns. (now treated as a synonym of Sinningia ), Parakohleria Wiehler (now included in Pearcea ) and Peltanthera Benth. (excluded from Gesneriaceae by molecular phylogenetic studies). About half of
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#1732790588801240-586: The basis of molecular phylogenetic , morphological and biogeographical differences, the family has been divided into two major subfamilies: subfamily Didymocarpoideae (formerly Cyrtandroideae) with all but one species from the Old World , and subfamily Gesnerioideae native from the Americas west through the Pacific to Australia and southeastern China. The genus Sanango is placed in its own subfamily, Sanangoideae. The two main subfamilies are further divided into tribes and subtribes. Genera accepted by Plants of
260-423: The exception of the genus Titanotrichum , which is native to eastern Asia, all the species of the subfamily Gesnerioideae are native from Central and South America through the southwest Pacific to Australia . Gesneriaceae See text . Gesneriaceae , the gesneriad family , is a family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of
280-423: The family as the most basal member, and it is placed in its own subfamily. The studies also show the genus Peltanthera to be outside the family, although some sources still place it within the Gesneriaceae. The genus Rehmannia has also sometimes been included in the family but is now referred to the family Orobanchaceae . No single morphological feature absolutely divides two main subfamilies (i.e. forms
300-430: The family in 2013 and 2020 is shown below (to the level of tribes). The family Calceolariaceae is shown as the sister to Gesneriaceae. Peltanthera Calceolariaceae Sanangoideae ( Sanango ) Titanotricheae ( Titanotrichum ) Napeantheae ( Napeanthus ) Beslerieae Coronanthereae Gesnerieae Epithemateae Trichosporeae A phylogenomic study published in 2021 which used 418 nuclear genes confirmed
320-719: The family into two tribes, based on the number of stamens. However, the only genus he placed in his two-stamen tribe, Columellia , is now placed in the separate family Columelliaceae . Dumortier's publication has been treated as the first for the family by some sources. Botanists who have made significant contributions to the systematics of the family are George Bentham , Robert Brown , B.L. Burtt , C.B. Clarke , Olive Mary Hilliard , Joseph Dalton Hooker , William Jackson Hooker , Karl Fritsch , Elmer Drew Merrill , Harold E. Moore Jr. , John L. Clark , Conrad Vernon Morton , Henry Nicholas Ridley , Laurence Skog , W.T. Wang , Anton Weber , and Hans Wiehler . The Gesneriad Society
340-568: The most familiar members of the family to gardeners are the African violets in Streptocarpus section Saintpaulia . Gesneriads are divided culturally into three groups on the basis of whether, and how, their stems are modified into storage organs: rhizomatous , tuberous , and "fibrous-rooted", meaning those that lack such storage structures (although all gesneriads have fibrous roots). Locule In angiosperms ( flowering plants ),
360-430: The name for the subfamily is attributed to Gilbert Thomas Burnett in 1835. Burnett divided his circumscription of the family Gesneriaceae into "Besleridae" and "Gesneridae". The latter was distinguished by having an inferior or semi-inferior ovary and the calyx adhering to the gynoecium ("germen"). However, Burnett's circumscription of the family and subfamilies was very different to the modern conception. He placed
380-418: The same size and shape (isocotylous), whereas the cotyledons of Didymocarpoideae are usually, but not always, eventually different in size and shape (anisocotylous). Gesnerioideae flowers usually have four fertile stamens , rarely two or five. In other respects, Gesnerioideae species are very variable. The ovary may be superior, semi-inferior or inferior, and the fruit takes various forms. The original use of
400-552: The term locule usually refers to a chamber within an ovary ( gynoecium or carpel ) of the flower and fruits . Depending on the number of locules in the ovary, fruits can be classified as unilocular (uni-locular), bilocular , trilocular , or multilocular . The number of locules present in a gynoecium may be equal to or less than the number of carpels. The locules contain the ovules or seeds . The term may also refer to chambers within anthers containing pollen . In ascomycetous fungi, locules are chambers within
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