| Dichorisandrinae | |
|---|---|
| |
| Dichorisandra thyrsiflora | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Commelinales |
| Family: | Commelinaceae |
| Subfamily: | Commelinoideae |
| Tribe: | Tradescantieae |
| Subtribe: | Dichorisandrinae Faden & D.R.Hunt |
Dichorisandrinae is a subtribe within the tribe Tradescantieae of the flowering plant family Commelinaceae. It consists of 5 genera and around 51 species.
The subtribe represents a diverse assemblage native to tropical South America and a contiguous portion of Central America.[1] Not only is this subtribe remarkable for the range of morphological and ecological variation within it, but it also includes species that represent novel exceptions to the terrestrial habit, longitudinally-dehiscent anthers, and/or exarillate seeds typical of the family. Exceptional taxa include Dichorisandra, characterized by the unusual combination of a vining habit, poricidal anthers, and arillate seeds. Cochliostema is atypical in having an epiphytic habit and flowers with spirally-coiled anthers concealed in petaloid extensions of the filament. Geogenanthus is distinguished by a particular 6-celled stomatal complex and basal axillary inflorescences. Plowmanianthus consists of prostrate herbs shallowly rooted in the leaf-litter layer of rainforest floors, and the flowers of most Plowmanianthus species are primarily cleistogamous.[2]
- ^ Robert B. Faden & D. R. Hunt (1991). "The classification of the Commelinaceae". Taxon. 40 (1): 19–31. doi:10.2307/1222918. JSTOR 1222918.
- ^ C. R. Hardy & Robert B. Faden (2004). "Plowmanianthus, a new genus of Commelinaceae with five new species from tropical America". Systematic Botany. 29 (2): 316–333. doi:10.1600/036364404774195511.