Acleisanthes

Acleisanthes
Acleisanthes longiflora
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Nyctaginaceae
Tribe: Nyctagineae
Genus: Acleisanthes
A.Gray
Species

16 - See text

Synonyms

Acleisanthes is a genus of flowering plants in the Bougainvillea family, Nyctaginaceae. There are currently 16 species. The generic name is derived from the Greek words ακλειοτος (akleistos), meaning "not closed", and ανθος (anthos), meaning "flower".[2] Plants of this genus are known commonly as trumpets[3] due to the elongated, open-ended shape of their flowers. These are arid-adapted perennials with thick taproots which are usually compact and low to the ground or slightly ascending. An individual plant may have cleistogamous (unopening and self-pollinating) flowers as well as opening flowers which are usually nocturnal as a water-saving adaptation and are pollinated by night-flying or crepuscular insects such as hawkmoths. Flowers are usually white, sometimes yellow. These plants are native to the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts of Mexico and the United States.

  1. ^ "Genus: Acleisanthes A. Gray". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2010-07-07. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  2. ^ Holloway, Joel Ellis; Amanda Neill (2005). A Dictionary of Common Wildflowers of Texas & the Southern Great Plains. TCU Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-87565-309-9.
  3. ^ "Acleisanthes". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2010-10-18.