Welcome to
The Genera of Gesneriaceae

Gesneriaceae are a large and interesting family of predominantly tropical and subtropical plants. Some genera and species are well known to a broad public. Examples include the "African Violets" (Saintpaulia spp. and cultivars) or the Florists "Gloxinias" (Sinningia speciosa and cultivars) which have become extremely popular indoor ornamentals. Other representatives of the family are of great scientific interest, e.g., the morphologically unusual genera Streptocarpus, Acanthonema and Monophyllaea, in which some or all species produce only a single cotyledonary leaf and represent striking botanical examples of neoteny (organisms reaching maturity in a juvenile stage). 

 There are several www-sites devoted to Gesneriaceae (see Links to other Gesneriaceae websites). However, their focus is usually on plants used as ornamentals or at least on species that are in cultivation. In contrast, many genera of Gesneriaceae received little attention and are largely unknown to a broader public. The present webpage attempts to fill the gap by providing a survey of all genera of the family. The number of genera is between 140 and 150 depending on the generic concepts used by taxonomists.

We also present an overview of the family, and we include classifications of various authors so that readers will see the generic relationships.

The information is given in a standard form and includes the following items:

• Name of the genus, incl. effective author(s)

• Original publication, with titles abbreviated according to TL-2 and BPH (incl. supplements).

• Etymology, explanation of the scientific name 

• Synonyms, with author(s) and year of publication

• Description of the genus

• Chromosome number

• Type species

• Species number, the number of the currently accepted species is given

• Species names (incl. publication and synonyms): an electronic link is provided to Skog, L.E. & J.K.Boggan. 2005: World checklist of Gesneriaceae. [Washington, D.C.: Dept. of Botany, Smithsonian Institution]; http://persoon.si.edu/Gesneriaceae/Checklist

• Distribution 

• Ecology: ecological details are only given when published in the literature 

• Notes, e.g., on taxonomic history, special characters, subdivision of genus, state of study, pollination syndrome, seed dispersal 

• Selected references, in brief form: author, journal name and issue number, pages, year of publication; nature of content, e.g., anat. = anatomy, molec. syst. = molecular systematics, morph. = morphology, notes, rev. = revision, reg. rev. = regional revision (the country or area is given in brackets), surv. = (popular or semi-popular) survey, tax. = taxonomy and nomenclature.

• Bibliography: an electronic link is provided to Skog, L.E. & J.K.Boggan. 2005: Bibliography of the Gesneriaceae. [Washington, D.C.: Dept. of Botany, Smithsonian Institution]; http://persoon.si.edu/Gesneriaceae/Bibliography. 
  This website comprises full references to books and papers on Gesneriaceae  to the present time. Each reference is followed by a list of the genera and keyword mentioned in the cited paper. For some more details see the Introduction to the Bibliography. Our link leads to the query page, from which the requested information can be ordered by typing or selecting a generic name, an author name or a keyword.

• Illustrations: these refer to one or several species of a genus. It was not intended to illustrate as many species as possible, but to give an impression and to cover to some degree the morphological range of the genus, e.g., various flower types in relation to different pollination modes. 
  Whenever possible, a picture of the type species (if available, also from the original publication) has been inserted at the first place, the other species follow in alphabetical order. Please note that every picture can be magnified by clicking the picture area.
  Source and credits are given given for each illustration. The users are invited to provide better and/or additional illustrations. Principally, we will keep the illustrations at a rather low number. From some cultivated species of Gesneriaceae a large number of photos can be found in the www; see "Links to other Gesneriaceae websites".