INVESTIGADORES
MORONI Pablo Daniel
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Systematics of the tribe Duranteae I: Insights into the genus Bouchea Cham.
Autor/es:
MORONI, PABLO DANIEL; O'LEARY NATALY
Lugar:
Quito
Reunión:
Congreso; XII Congreso Latinoamericano de Botánica 2018; 2018
Institución organizadora:
Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi
Resumen:
Duranteae is a recently circumscribed tribe, including the genera Bouchea Cham., Chascanum E. Mey., Duranta L., Re- cordia Moldenke and Stachytarpheta Vahl. Historically, these genera had been placed either within Lantaneae or Cytha- rexyleae tribes based upon fruit characters as a diagnostic trait for this tribal arrangement. Bouchea is a New World genus of annual or perennial herbs widely distributed in tropical and subtropical zones, ranging from southern North America and the Caribbean to northern Argentina in South America. Plants of Bouchea are characterized by their flowers, which are subtended by a bract and two bractlets; the presence of only four stamens with connective tissue surpassing the theca and a fruiting-calyx not fully enclosing the fruit. The number of valid taxa recognized in the genus has varied much in the literature, due to revisions based upon limited herbarium material, nomenclatural inconsistencies and the publication of new taxa over time. Leaf morphology as well as floral and fruit features make most species of Bouchea easily recognizable. However, the taxonomy of the most variable species of the genus, Bouchea prismatica (L.) Kuntze, has been a major pro- blem. Over the years, botanists have been prompted to describe taxa on the basis of subtle morphological variations ob- servable throughout their geographic distributional range. In this framework, the aim of this study is to provide a modern taxonomic revision of Bouchea, laying the foundations for a wider knowledge of the genus. Advances on our treatment find ca. 13 species, resurrecting previously neglected species and updating the known geographical distribution of species based upon the study of more than 1000 herbarium specimens. Furthermore, Bouchea boliviana (Kuntze) Moldenke, which was previously known only from the Bolivian Yungas, is reported for the very first time in northwestern Argentina.