Didymocarpus
Didymocarpus[1][2] is a genus of flowering plants in the African violet family Gesneriaceae and typical of the tribe Didymocarpeae. There are about 100 known species distributed from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Malay Peninsula, with one species, extending up to northern Sumatra. Some members of the genus are known for their medicinal properties, specially to cure diseases related to kidney.[3]
| Didymocarpus | |
|---|---|
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| An illustration of Didymocarpus oblongus from Nepal | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Gesneriaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cyrtandroideae |
| Tribe: | Didymocarpeae |
| Genus: | Didymocarpus Wall, 1819 |
| Synonyms | |
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Description
The members of the genus are typically small perennial, deciduous herbs with annual flowering stems. Flowering shoots are produced from the basal rootstock or condensed rhizome during the onset of rainy season which dies after producing the fruits. Leaves are opposite, decussate and mostly unequal within pairs. The inflorescence is pair-flowered cyme, typical of Gesneriaceae, with few to many flowers. The calyx is often united for more than half of its length or rarely free to the base. The corolla is tubular, widening towards the mouth with a bilabiate limbs. The flowers are devoid of nectar are subtended by brightly colored bracteoles. Floral color can be hues of reds, oranges, yellows, and violet often with stripes on the lobes. The flower has two stamens with slender filaments and cohering anthers. The ovary is cylindrical with often with stipe and an entirely capitate stigma. Fruit capsules are straight, orthocarpic, bivalved, and dehisce loculicidally.
Taxonomy
The genus Didymocarpus was described by Nathaniel Wallich in 1819 based on specimens he received from Nepal. Due to lack of a clear definition of the generic boundaries, more than 180 species and 450 names were affiliated to this genus over the time. These included many morphologically distinct species from Madagascar, Western ghats of India and Southeast Asia. The genus was remodeled and redefined by Weber and Burt in 1998 with about 80 species. Recently, many new species were described from India, China and Thailand and the genus now comprises of about 100 species.
Species
The Catalogue of Life lists:[2]
- Didymocarpus acuminatus
- Didymocarpus adenocalyx
- Didymocarpus adenocarpus
- Didymocarpus albicalyx
- Didymocarpus andersonii
- Didymocarpus antirrhinoides
- Didymocarpus aromaticus
- Didymocarpus aurantiacus
- Didymocarpus aureoglandulosus
- Didymocarpus bancanus
- Didymocarpus barbinervius
- Didymocarpus bhutanicus
- Didymocarpus bicolor
- Didymocarpus biserratus
- Didymocarpus bracteatus
- Didymocarpus burkei
- Didymocarpus cinereus
- Didymocarpus citrinus
- Didymocarpus corchorifolius
- Didymocarpus cordatus
- Didymocarpus cortusifolius
- Didymocarpus curvicapsa
- Didymocarpus denticulatus
- Didymocarpus dongrakensis
- Didymocarpus elatior
- Didymocarpus epithemoides
- Didymocarpus gageanus
- Didymocarpus geesinkianus
- Didymocarpus glandulosus
- Didymocarpus graciliflorus
- Didymocarpus grandidentatus
- Didymocarpus heucherifolius
- Didymocarpus hookeri
- Didymocarpus insulsus
- Didymocarpus kerrii
- Didymocarpus labiatus
- Didymocarpus leiboensis
- Didymocarpus lineicapsa
- Didymocarpus macrophyllus
- Didymocarpus margaritae
- Didymocarpus medogensis
- Didymocarpus megaphyllus
- Didymocarpus mengtze
- Didymocarpus mollis
- Didymocarpus mortonii
- Didymocarpus nanophyton
- Didymocarpus newmannii
- Didymocarpus nigrescens
- Didymocarpus oblongus
- Didymocarpus ovatus
- Didymocarpus parryorum
- Didymocarpus paucinervius
- Didymocarpus pedicellatus
- Didymocarpus perakensis
- Didymocarpus platycalyx
- Didymocarpus podocarpus
- Didymocarpus poilanei
- Didymocarpus praeteritus
- Didymocarpus primulifolius
- Didymocarpus pseudomengtze
- Didymocarpus pteronema
- Didymocarpus pulcher
- Didymocarpus punduanus
- Didymocarpus purpureobracteatus
- Didymocarpus purpureopictus
- Didymocarpus purpureus
- Didymocarpus reniformis
- Didymocarpus robustus
- Didymocarpus rufipes
- Didymocarpus salviiflorus
- Didymocarpus silvarum
- Didymocarpus sinoprimulinus
- Didymocarpus sinoindicus
- Didymocarpus stenanthos
- Didymocarpus stenocarpus
- Didymocarpus subpalmatinervis
- Didymocarpus sulphureus
- Didymocarpus triplotrichus
- Didymocarpus tristis
- Didymocarpus wattianus
- Didymocarpus wengeri
- Didymocarpus venosus
- Didymocarpus villosus
- Didymocarpus violaceus
- Didymocarpus yuenlingensis
- Didymocarpus yunnanensis
- Didymocarpus zhenkangensis
- Didymocarpus zhufengensis
References
- Wall. (1819) Edinburgh Philos. J. 1: 378.
- Roskov Y.; Kunze T.; Orrell T.; Abucay L.; Paglinawan L.; Culham A.; Bailly N.; Kirk P.; Bourgoin T.; Baillargeon G.; Decock W.; De Wever A. (2014). Didžiulis V. (ed.). "Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2014 Annual Checklist". Species 2000: Reading, UK. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- Kaur, Gurpreet; Lone, Irshad A.; Athar, Mohammad; Alam, M. Sarwar (2007-01-05). "Protective effect of Didymocarpus pedicellata on ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA) induced renal oxidative stress and hyperproliferative response". Chemico-Biological Interactions. 165 (1): 33–44. doi:10.1016/j.cbi.2006.10.012. ISSN 0009-2797. PMID 17140554.
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