Polycarpaea is a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. It contains 79 species native to tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Africa and Madagascar, the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, southern China, Taiwan, the Philippines, New Guinea, and Australia. The genus was named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1792.[1]

Polycarpaea
Polycarpaea filifolia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae
Genus: Polycarpaea
Lam. (1792)
Synonyms[1]
  • Aylmeria Mart. (1826)
  • Calycotropis Turcz. (1862)
  • Hagaea Vent. (1799)
  • Hyala L'Hér. ex DC. (1828)
  • Lahaya Schult. (1819)
  • Mollia Willd. (1803), nom. illeg.
  • Polia Lour. (1790)
  • Polium Stokes (1812)
  • Reesia Ewart (1913)
  • Robbairea Boiss. (1867)
Polycarpaea corymbosa

Molecular phylogenetic analysis showed that the genus is polyphyletic and needs to be redefined. It falls into three distinct clades. One of these, a group of species related to P. corymbosa, has acquired the C4 photosynthetic pathway.[2]

Species edit

79 species are accepted.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Polycarpaea Lam. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  2. ^ Kool, Annaleen (2012). Desert plants and deserted islands: systematics and ethnobotany in Caryophyllaceae (PhD thesis). Uppsala University. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-91-554-8471-2. Retrieved 23 June 2018.  

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