Genlisea

Genlisea
Genlisea violacea traps and leaves
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Clade:Asterids
Order:Lamiales
Family:Lentibulariaceae
Genus:Genlisea
A.St.-Hil. (1833)
Subgenera and sections
  • Genlisea subg. Genlisea
    • Genlisea sect. Genlisea
    • Genlisea sect. Africanae
      A.Fleischm., Kai Müll., Barthlott & Eb.Fisch.
    • Genlisea sect. Recurvatae
      A.Fleischm., Kai Müll., Barthlott & Eb.Fisch.
  • Genlisea subg. Tayloria
    (Fromm) Eb.Fisch., S.Porembski & Barthlott
Global distribution of Genlisea

Genlisea /dʒɛnlɪˈsiːə/ is a genus of carnivorous plants also known as corkscrew plants. The 30 or so species grow in wet terrestrial to semi-aquatic environments distributed throughout Africa and Central and South America. The plants use highly modified underground leaves to attract, trap and digest minute microfauna, particularly protozoans. Although suggested a century earlier by Charles Darwin, carnivory in the genus was not proven until 1998.[1]

The generic name Genlisea honors the late Stéphanie Félicité Ducrest de St-Albin, comtesse de Genlis, a French writer and educator.[2]

Several species in the genus, including G. margaretae, G. aurea, and G. tuberosa, possess the smallest known genomes of all flowering plants.[3][4]

Description

Genlisea subglabra leaves

Genlisea are small herbs, growing from a slender rhizome and bearing two morphologically distinct leaf types - photosynthetic foliage leaves aboveground and highly modified subterranean leaves used to trap prey. The plants lack roots, although the subterranean traps perform many of the functions normally performed by roots, such as anchorage and water absorption.

Several to many flowers are held by a slender, erect, and often tall inflorescence. As in other members of the bladderwort family, the corolla is fused into a bilobed tube tapering to a spur, with the lower lip of the corolla having three lobes.[2] The calyx is five-lobed, in contrast to Utricularia's three-lobed calyx.[5] Corolla colors are generally yellow or violet to mauve, although a few species are white or cream.[5]

The foliage leaves grow in a hemisphere around the growth point. Depending on species, these leaves are linear to spatulate in shape and 0.5–5 cm (¼–2 in) in length.[2]

The subterranean traps are white, lacking chlorophyll or any other pigmentation. They consist of a cylindrical stalk, widening at some distance below the surface into a hollow bulb-like utricle, and continuing as a hollow cylinder some further distance. At this point the stalk bifurcates into two furrowed spirals, between which the cylinder opening acts as the trap entrance. The furrows of the spiraled trap arms are lined with hairs pointing inward and toward the bifurcation. The hollow cylinder section leading from the bifurcation to the utricle is likewise lined with upward-pointing curved hairs. Some species produce two trap forms, one shorter and one longer, which probably target different prey groups.

Taxonomy

Twenty-nine species are currently recognised in the genus.[6] Two varieties are also considered valid: G. aurea var. minor and the autonymous G. aurea var. aurea.[6] Intraspecific determination depends almost wholly upon the inflorescence, particularly upon the indumentum.[5]

SpeciesAuthorityYearImageDistributionSubgenusSection
Genlisea africanaOliv.1865AfricaGenliseaAfricanae
Genlisea angolensisR.D.Good1924AfricaGenliseaAfricanae
Genlisea aureaA.St.-Hil.1833South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea barthlottiiS.Porembski, Eb.Fisch. & Gemmel1996AfricaGenliseaAfricanae
Genlisea exhibitionista[7]Rivadavia & A.Fleischm.2011South AmericaTayloria
Genlisea filiformisA.St.-Hil.1833South America, Central America, CubaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea flexuosa[7]Rivadavia, A.Fleischm. & Gonella2011South AmericaTayloria
Genlisea glabraP.Taylor1967South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea glandulosissimaR.E.Fr.1916AfricaGenliseaRecurvatae
Genlisea guianensisN.E.Br.1900South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea hispidulaStapf1904AfricaGenliseaAfricanae
Genlisea lobataFromm1989South AmericaTayloria
Genlisea margaretaeHutch.1946Africa, MadagascarGenliseaRecurvatae
Genlisea metallica[7]Rivadavia & A.Fleischm.2011South AmericaTayloria
Genlisea nebulicola[7]Rivadavia, Gonella & A.Fleischm.2011South AmericaTayloria
Genlisea nigrocaulisSteyerm.1948South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea oligophylla[7]Rivadavia & A.Fleischm.2011South AmericaTayloria
Genlisea oxycentronP.Taylor1954South America, TrinidadGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea pallidaFromm & P.Taylor1985AfricaGenliseaRecurvatae
Genlisea pulchellaTutin1934South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea pygmaeaA.St.-Hil.1833South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea repensBenj.1847South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea roraimensisN.E.Br.1901South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea sanariapoanaSteyerm.1953South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea stapfiiA.Chev.1912AfricaGenliseaAfricanae
Genlisea subglabraStapf1906AfricaGenliseaAfricanae
Genlisea tuberosa[8]Rivadavia, Gonella & A.Fleischm.2013South AmericaGenliseaGenlisea
Genlisea uncinataP.Taylor & Fromm1983South AmericaTayloria
Genlisea violaceaA.St.-Hil.1833South AmericaTayloria

Botanical history

The genus was discovered by Augustin François César Prouvençal de Saint-Hilaire,[2] who in 1833 described four species: G. aurea, G. filiformis, G. pygmaea, and G. violacea.

References

  1. ↑ Barthlott W, Porembski S, Fischer E, Gemmel B (1998). "First protozoa-trapping plant found". Nature. 392 (6675): 447. doi:10.1038/33037.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Claudi-Magnussen G (1982). "An introduction to Genlisea". Carnivorous Plant Newsletter. 11 (1): 13–15.
  3. ↑ Greilhuber J, Borsch T, Müller K, Worberg A, Porembski S, Barthlott W (2006). "Smallest angiosperm genomes found in Lentibulariaceae, with chromosomes of bacterial size". Plant Biology. 8: 770–777. doi:10.1055/s-2006-924101. PMID 17203433.
  4. ↑ Fleischmann A, Michael TP, Rivadavia F, Sousa A, Wang W, Temsch EM, Greilhuber J, Müller KF, Heubl G (2014). "Evolution of genome size and chromosome number in the carnivorous plant genus Genlisea (Lentibulariaceae), with a new estimate of the minimum genome size in angiosperms". Annals of Botany. 114 (8): 1651–1663. doi:10.1093/aob/mcu189. PMC 4649684. PMID 25274549.
  5. 1 2 3 Taylor P (1991). "The genus Genlisea". Carnivorous Plant Newsletter. 20 (1–2): 20–26.
  6. 1 2 Fleischmann, A. (2012). Monograph of the Genus Genlisea. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. ISBN 978-190-878-700-2.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Fleischmann, A., F. Rivadavia, P.M. Gonella & G. Heubl (2011). A revision of Genlisea subgenus Tayloria (Lentibulariaceae). Phytotaxa 33: 1–40. first page
  8. ↑ Rivadavia F, Gonella PM, Fleischmann A (2013). "A new and tuberous species of Genlisea (Lentibulariaceae) from the campos rupestres of Brazil". Systematic Botany. 38 (2): 464–470. doi:10.1600/036364413X666679.
  • Płachno BJ, Kozieradzka-Kiszkurno M, Świątek P (2007). "Functional ultrastructure of Genlisea (Lentibulariaceae) digestive hairs". Annals of Botany. 100 (2): 195–203. doi:10.1093/aob/mcm109. PMC 2735322.
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