Oerstedina

Full name and orig. publication: Oerstedina Wiehler, Selbyana 2: 115 (20 Aug. 1977).

Etymology: Named in honor of Anders Sandøe Ørsted (1816-1872), a Danish botanist and explorer in the neotropics.

Synonyms: -

Infrafamilial position: Gesnerioid Gesneriaceae (Gesnerioideae) - Episcieae.

Description: Perennial, epiphytic herbs or subshrubs. Stems erect or ascending, internodes often elongate. Leaves opposite, (sub)isophyllous, petiolate, lamina ± elliptic, often coloured below. Inflorescences densely clustered in the upper leaf axils; bracteolate peduncles short or lacking. Flowers inconspicuous, pedicels short. Sepals subequal, free to base or nearly so, often reddish. Corolla white with reddish spots, or pink; tubular, tube somewhat inflated, gibbous at base, barely exceeding the sepals; limb with ± spreading lobes. Stamens 4, included, filaments adnate to base of corolla tube. Nectary a single bilobed dorsal gland, or with an accessory ventral gland. Ovary superior, stigma stomatomorphic. Fruit an acute-acuminate berry.

Chromosome number: 2n = 18.

Species number: 3 [O. cerricola Wiehler, O. mexicana Wiehler, O. suffrutescens L.E.Skog].

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: Oerstedina cerricola Wiehler

Distribution: Central America.

Ecology: Epiphytic plants in forests.

Notes: This close ally of Rufodorsia is distinguished by the larger, tubular (dorsally not red) corolla and the pointed berry.

Selected references: Wiehler, Selbyana 6: 195 (1983); Skog, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 65: 961-964 (1979), reg. rev. (Panama).

Bibliography: See Skog, L.E. & J.K. Boggan. 2005. Bibliography of the Gesneriaceae. 2^nd edition: http://persoon.si.edu/Gesneriaceae/Bibliography.

Illustrations:

Oerstedina cerricola Wiehler Wiehler, Selbyana 2/1, pl. 33a (1977)

Oerstedina cerricola Wiehler Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 65, fig. 28 (1979)

Oerstedina mexicana Wiehler Wiehler, Selbyana 2/1, pl. 33B (1977)

last modified: 2007-07-13