Full name and orig. publication: Corallodiscus Batalin, Trudy Imp. S.-Petersburgsk. Bot. Sada (Acta Hort. Petrop.) 12: 176 (1892).
Etymology: Composed of the Greek κοραλλιον, korallion = coral, and δισκος, diskos = disc, alluding to the (always?) coral-red disc (nectary).
Synonym: Didssandra auct. non C.B.Clarke: Craib (1919).
Infrafamilial position: Didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae - "Basal Asiatic genera” (Weber 2004).
Description: Perennial acaulescent herbs. Leaves many, in a compact basal rosette, glabrous to densely woolly, lamina broadly lanceolate, (ob)ovate, rhombic, elliptical, or suborbicular, base broadly or narrowly cuneate, venation conspicuous. Cymes axillary, one- to many-flowered, lax, rarely subumbellate, bracteoles apparently absent. Sepals free nearly to base or fused halfway. Corolla tubular, zygomorphic, with bilabiate limb; upper lip 2-lobed, shorter than 3-lobed lower lip, lobes (sub)equal, rounded or obtuse; lower lip with dense beard inside of tube; colour blue to purple, rarely yellow or white. Stamens 4, inserted above corolla base (rarely above middle), included or slightly exserted; anthers dorsifixed, coherent in pairs; thecae divaricate, confluent, longicidally dehiscent; staminode present. Nectary ring-like. Ovary oblong, with 2 parietal placentae; stigma capitate. Capsule usually oblong to linear, much longer than calyx, dehiscing loculicidally, sometimes also septicidally.
Chromosome number: 2n = 20, 40.
Species number: 3-5.
Species names (incl. publication and synonyms): See Skog, L.E. & J.K. Boggan. 2005: World checklist of Gesneriaceae: http://persoon.si.edu/Gesneriaceae/Checklist.
Type species: Corallodiscus lanuginosus (R.Br.) B.L.Burtt
Distribution: Bhutan, China (3 spp; Yunnan, Sichuan, Gansu, Xizang, Guizhou), N and NE India, Nepal, Thailand.
Ecology: Growing on rocks and rock crevices within forests or above the forest line, from 700 to nearly 5000m.
Notes: While Wang et al. (1990) recognized 9 spp. in China, Wang et al (1998) reduced the number to three, due to a much broader circumscription of Corallodiscus lanuginosus.
Selected references: Burtt, Gard. Chron. ser. 3, 122: 212 (1947); Wang et al., Fl. Rei Pop. Sin. 69: 233-245, 1990; Wang et al. in Wu & Raven (eds.), Fl. China 18: 283-284 (1998) (Chinese spp.); Hilliard, in Grierson & Long, Fl. Bhutan 2(3): 1321-1323 (2001), reg. rev.;Burtt, Thai Forest Bull. (Botany) 29: 81-109 (2001), annot. checklist (Thailand); Lu et al., Acta Bot.Yunnan. 24(3): 377-382 (2002).
Bibliography: See Skog, L.E. & J.K. Boggan. 2005. Bibliography of the Gesneriaceae. 2nd edition: http://persoon.si.edu/Gesneriaceae/Bibliography.
Illustrations:
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Corallodiscus kingianus (Craib) B.L.Burtt (1-3) C. flabellatus (Craib) B.L.Burtt var. flabellatus (4-6) C. flabellatus (Craib) B.L.Burtt var. puberulus K.Y.Pan (7) Wang W.T. et al., Fl. reipubl. pop. Sin., t. 60 (1969), with permission. |
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Corallodiscus conchifolius Batalin (1-4) C. plicatus var. lineatus (Craib) K.Y.Pan (5-7) C. flabellatus var. luteus (Craib) K.Y.Pan (8-10) Wang W.T. et al., Fl. reipubl. pop. Sin., t. 61 (1969), with permission. |
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Corallodiscus lanuginosus (Wall. ex DC.) B.L.Burtt
India, Orissa, phot. N.C. Rout |
last modified: 2007-09-28