Hook. f., Icon. pl., t. 1716 (1887), orig. illustration
Full name and orig. publication: Petrocosmea Oliv., Hook. Icon. pl. 18: t. 1716 (Nov. 1887).
Etymology: From the Greek πετρος, petros = rock, stone, and κοσμος, κοσμεα, kosmos, kosmea = beauty, adornment, decoration, embellishment; "the adornment of the rocks”.
Synonym: Vaniotia H.Lév. (1903).
Infrafamilial position: Didymocarpoid Gesneriaceae - "Advanced Asiatic and Malesian genera" (Weber 2004).
Description: Perennial acaulescent herbs. Leaves few to many, in a basal rosette; petiolate; lamina ovate to orbicular, apex acute, obtuse or rounded, base cuneate to cordate, rarely peltate. Cymes axillary, few- to several-flowered, lax, rarely subumbellate; bracteoles present. Sepals free, equal or fused to a 3-partite calyx. Corolla short-tubed, flat-faced, blue, purple or white; tube broad, shorter than limb, limb bilabiate, upper lip 2-lobed, equal or shorter than lower 3-lobed lip, lobes rounded. Stamens 2, inserted near corolla base; filaments short, anthers basifixed, coherent at apices, thecae parallel, apically confluent or not, dehiscence longicidal; staminodes 0-3. Nectary lacking. Ovary ovoid or conical, with parietal placentae; stigma capitate or globose. Capsule straight, ovoid or oblong, dehiscing loculicidally.
Chromosome number: 2n = 32, 34.
Species number: Ca. 27.
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: Petrocosmea sinensis Oliv.
Distribution: NE India, S China (24 spp.; Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Guizhou, Guangxi), Myanmar, Thailand, S Vietnam.
Ecology: Damp rocks and shaded cliffs in forest and above the forest line, 500- 3100m.
Notes: Wang (1985) subdivided the genus into the following sections:
(1) sect. Petrocosmea (considered the most primitive
section);
(2) sect. Anisochilus Hemsl.,
(3) sect. Deinanthera W.T.Wang.
The two latter sections are further subdivided into subsections and series.
Selected references: Craib, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 11: 269-275 (1919), rev.; Wang, Acta Bot. Yunnan. 7: 49-68 (1985), rev. (China); Wang et al. in Wu & Raven (eds.), Fl. China 18: 302-308 (1998) (Chinese spp.); Burtt, Thai Forest Bull. (Botany) 29: 81-109 (2001), annot. checklist, new spp. (Thailand); Lu et al., Acta Bot. Yunnan. 24(3): 377-382 (2002), karyol..
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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Petrocosmea sinensis Oliv., type species
Hook. f., Icon. pl., t. 1716 (1887), orig. illustration |
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Petrocosmea duclouxii Craib R. Myhr, The Gesneriad Reference Web |
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Petrocosmea forrestii Craib R. Myhr, The Gesneriad Reference Web |
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Petrocosmea minor Hemsl. R. Myhr, The Gesneriad Reference Web |
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Petrocosmea parryorum C.E.C.Fritsch R. Myhr, The Gesneriad Reference Web |
last modified: 2007-01-08