Rotheca
Encyclopedia
Rotheca is a genus
of flowering plant
s in the family
Lamiaceae
. Estimates of the number of species
in the genus vary from about 35 to as many as 60. Three of the species are native
to tropical Asia
, with the rest occurring
in Sub-Saharan Africa
. The type species
for the genus is Rotheca serrata
. It had originally been named Rotheca ternifolia, but this name is now considered illegitimate
.
Rotheca myricoides
is native to tropical East Africa
and is cultivated
as an ornamental
thruout the tropics. Rotheca serrata is from tropical Asia
and has some medicinal use
there.
In the 20th century, Rotheca was rarely recognized as separate from Clerodendrum
. Rotheca was revived in 1998 as a result of phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequence
s. It can easily be distinguished from Clerodendrum by a combination
of morphological
characters.
on Lamiaceae.
Rotheca is a genus of shrub
s, subshrub
s, and perennial
herbs
, with a few becoming liana
s or small tree
s. They emit an unpleasant odor when damaged. The leaves
are opposite or whorled
, and sessile
or with a short petiole
. The calyx is actinomorphic or nearly so, and not accrescent as in some related genera. The corolla is blue
, purple
, or white
, (rarely yellow
), and 5-lobed
. The abaxial lobe is often larger and different in color
. The four stamen
s are long-exserted. The ovary
is unlobed at anthesis
, becoming lobed during maturity
. The fruit
is 4-lobed and resembles a drupe
, but eventually separates into four 1-seed
ed mericarps.
by Rafinesque in 1838. The name
is a Latinization
of a Malayalam
name
meaning "small teak
". The India
n (Malayalam) name has had widely variant spellings.
In 1895, John Isaac Briquet
included Rotheca in his rather broad circumscription
of Clerodendrum
. Briquet's treatment was generally followed for the next 100 years, but doubts about it were often expressed. The genus Rotheca was revived in 1998, based on molecular phylogenetic work, some of which was not published until 1999. In this work, it was shown that inclusion of Rotheca in Clerodendrum renders the latter polyphyletic.
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Lamiaceae
Lamiaceae
The mints, taxonomically known as Lamiaceae or Labiatae, are a family of flowering plants. They have traditionally been considered closely related to Verbenaceae, but in the 1990s, phylogenetic studies suggested that many genera classified in Verbenaceae belong instead in Lamiaceae...
. Estimates of the number of species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
in the genus vary from about 35 to as many as 60. Three of the species are native
Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...
to tropical Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, with the rest occurring
Range (biology)
In biology, the range or distribution of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, dispersion is variation in local density.The term is often qualified:...
in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
. The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
for the genus is Rotheca serrata
Rotheca serrata
Rotheca serrata is a species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae....
. It had originally been named Rotheca ternifolia, but this name is now considered illegitimate
Nomen illegitimum
A nomen illegitimum is a technical term, used mainly in botany. It is usually abbreviated as nom. illeg..-Definition:...
.
Rotheca myricoides
Rotheca myricoides
Rotheca myricoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Africa and widely cultivated elsewhere....
is native to tropical East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and is cultivated
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
as an ornamental
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
thruout the tropics. Rotheca serrata is from tropical Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and has some medicinal use
Herbalism
Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...
there.
In the 20th century, Rotheca was rarely recognized as separate from Clerodendrum
Clerodendrum
Clerodendrum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. Its common names include glorybower, bagflower and bleeding-heart...
. Rotheca was revived in 1998 as a result of phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
s. It can easily be distinguished from Clerodendrum by a combination
Combination
In mathematics a combination is a way of selecting several things out of a larger group, where order does not matter. In smaller cases it is possible to count the number of combinations...
of morphological
Plant morphology
Plant morphology or phytomorphology is the study of the physical form and external structure of plants. This is usually considered distinct from plant anatomy, which is the study of the internal structure of plants, especially at the microscopic level...
characters.
Description
The following description is adapted from the most recent monographMonograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
on Lamiaceae.
Rotheca is a genus of shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s, subshrub
Subshrub
A subshrub or dwarf shrub is a short woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a similar term.It is distinguished from a shrub by its ground-hugging stems and lower height, with overwintering perennial woody growth typically less than 10–20 cm tall, or by being only weakly woody and/or persisting...
s, and perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herbs
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
, with a few becoming liana
Liana
A liana is any of various long-stemmed, woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. Lianas are especially characteristic of tropical moist deciduous...
s or small tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s. They emit an unpleasant odor when damaged. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are opposite or whorled
Phyllotaxis
In botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem .- Pattern structure :...
, and sessile
Sessility (botany)
In botany, sessility is a characteristic of plants whose flowers or leaves are borne directly from the stem or peduncle, and thus lack a petiole or pedicel...
or with a short petiole
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. The calyx is actinomorphic or nearly so, and not accrescent as in some related genera. The corolla is blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
, purple
Purple
Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....
, or white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
, (rarely yellow
Yellow
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...
), and 5-lobed
Lobe (anatomy)
In anatomy, a lobe is a clear anatomical division or extension that can be determined without the use of a microscope This is in contrast to a lobule, which is a clear division only visible histologically....
. The abaxial lobe is often larger and different in color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
. The four stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s are long-exserted. The ovary
Ovary (plants)
In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals...
is unlobed at anthesis
Anthesis
Anthesis is the period during which a flower is fully open and functional. It may also refer to the onset of that period.The onset of anthesis is spectacular in some species. In Banksia species, for example, anthesis involves the extension of the style far beyond the upper perianth parts...
, becoming lobed during maturity
Ripening
Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more palatable. In general, a fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Even though the acidity of fruit increases as it ripens, the higher acidity level does not make the fruit seem tarter, which can lead to the...
. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is 4-lobed and resembles a drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
, but eventually separates into four 1-seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
ed mericarps.
History
Rotheca was namedBotanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
by Rafinesque in 1838. The name
Binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...
is a Latinization
Latinisation (literature)
Latinisation is the practice of rendering a non-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly met with for historical personal names, with toponyms, or for the standard binomial nomenclature of the life sciences. It goes further than Romanisation, which is the writing of a word in the Latin alphabet...
of a Malayalam
Malayalam language
Malayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
meaning "small teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
". The India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n (Malayalam) name has had widely variant spellings.
In 1895, John Isaac Briquet
John Isaac Briquet
John Isaac Briquet was a Swiss plant collector.-References:...
included Rotheca in his rather broad circumscription
Circumscription (taxonomy)
In taxonomy, circumscription is the definition of the limits of a taxonomic group of organisms. One goal of taxonomy is to achieve a stable circumscription for every taxonomic group. Achieving stability can be simple or difficult....
of Clerodendrum
Clerodendrum
Clerodendrum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. Its common names include glorybower, bagflower and bleeding-heart...
. Briquet's treatment was generally followed for the next 100 years, but doubts about it were often expressed. The genus Rotheca was revived in 1998, based on molecular phylogenetic work, some of which was not published until 1999. In this work, it was shown that inclusion of Rotheca in Clerodendrum renders the latter polyphyletic.
Species
One commonly consulted species list provides only a few examples. The transfer of species from Clerodendrum to Rotheca continues in a piecemeal fashion, and is mostly for the compilation of local florasFloristics
Floristics is a subdomain of botany and biogeography that studies distribution and relationships of plant species over geographic areas.The term is not to be confused with floristry....
.
- Rotheca incisa (Klotzsch) Steane & Mabb.
- Rotheca myricoidesRotheca myricoidesRotheca myricoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Africa and widely cultivated elsewhere....
(Hochst.) Steane & Mabb. (syn. Clerodendrum ugandense) Prain – Butterfly Bush - Rotheca serrataRotheca serrataRotheca serrata is a species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae....
(L.) Steane & Mabb.
External links
- Rotheca In: Flora Telluriana At: Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Rotheca Species At: Rotheca At: List of Genera At: Lamiaceae At: Family List At: Families and Genera in GRIN At: Queries At: GRIN Taxonomy for Plants