Belongs within: Lamiales.
Contains: Gesneria, Kohleria, Rechsteineria.
The Gesneriaceae are a mostly tropical family of flowering plants. Representatives include the African violets Saintpaulia, widely grown as ornamentals. Most are herbs or shrubs though the Neotropical Sanango grows into a hard-wood tree about 15 metres tall. Members of the subfamily Didymocarpoideae have seedlings in which only one of the two cotyledons develops normally whereas the other remains stunted.
Characters (Wang, Pan et al.): Herbs, shrubs, or rarely trees. Leaves opposite or rarely alternate, whorled or basal, rosette forming; exstipulate; usually simple, rarely shallowly to deeply lobed, pinnately or rarely palmately veined. Inflorescences usually cymes, rarely racemes, axillary, often near apex and appearing terminal; usually pedunculate. Flowers perfect, zygomorphic, seldom actinomorphic. Calyx actinomorphic, rarely zygomorphic; usually (4 or) 5-divided. Corolla gamopetalous, zygomorphic, rarely actinomorphic; usually 2-lipped. Fertile stamens 2 or 4, then often didynamous, rarely 5, epipetalous; anthers free or coherent, thecae 2, parallel, divergent, or divaricate; staminodes 1–3 or absent. Disc ringlike to cupular, rarely absent. Ovary superior, half inferior, or inferior, 1-loculed; gynophore seldom present; placentas (1 or) 2, parietal, rarely 2-loculed, placenta 1 per locule and axile; ovules numerous, anatropous. Style 1; stigmas 1 or 2. Fruit usually capsular, loculicidal, septicidal, or circumscissile, rarely a berry, indehiscent. Seeds numerous, fusiform to ellipsoid or ovoid, minute, sometimes with appendages at 1 or both ends, with or without endosperm; embryo straight, cotyledons equal or unequal after germination.
<==Gesneriaceae
|--CoronantheraC06 [CoronantheroideaeT00]
|--Didymocarpoideae [Cyrtandroideae]T00
| |--Cyrtandromoea decurrensT00, R44
| |--TitanotrichumT00
| |--CyrtandraK03
| | |--C. areolataK03
| | |--C. clarkeiP88
| | |--C. cuneataR44
| | |--C. glabraT-W89
| | |--C. pendulaR44
| | `--C. repensA78
| `--DidymocarpusD07
| |--D. atrosanguineaP88
| |--D. barbataR44
| |--D. hirtusP88
| |--D. pedicellataD07
| |--D. platypusP88
| `--D. pygmaeaS73
`--GesnerioideaeT00
|--SanangoT00
|--GesneriaL95
|--Phinaea rubida (Lemaire) Fritsch 1916 [=Niphaea rubida Lemaire 1847; incl. N. crenata Karsten 1858–1869]F16
|--Monopyle macrocarpaF16
|--Koellikeria argyrostigmaF16
|--HeppiellaF16
| |--H. grandifolia Fritsch 1916F16
| `--H. rosea Fritsch 1913F16
|--DiastemaF16
| |--D. eggersianum Fritsch 1913F16
| |--D. kalbreyeri Fritsch 1916F16
| |--D. maculatumF16
| |--D. pictumF16
| |--D. racemiferumF16
| |--D. sodiroanum Fritsch 1913F16
| `--D. weberbaueri Fritsch 1916F16
|--KohleriaF16
|--CampaneaF16
| | i. s.: C. affinisF16
| | C. grandifloraF16
| | C. oerstediiF16
| | C. picturataF16
| `--C. sect. StenocampaneaF16
| |--C. hansteinii Fritsch 1913F16
| `--C. peruviana Fritsch 1916F16
`--RechsteineriaF16
Gesneriaceae incertae sedis:
Nematanthus hirsutusOP01
Streptocarpus holstiiOP01
CyrtandropsisYY22
NegriaC06
DrepanthusMC94
AeschynanthusS77
|--A. albidus [=Bignonia albida Bl. 1823]S77
|--A. angustifolius [=Bignonia angustifolia Bl. 1823]S77
|--A. longiflorus [=Bignonia longiflora Reinw. ex De Vriese 1856 (n. n.) non Willd. ex DC. 1845]S77
`--A. speciosaP88
Chirita caliginosaP88
Monophyllea horsfieldiiP88
Rhabdothamnus Cunn. 1838A61
`--R. solandri Cunn. 1838 [incl. R. scabrosus Steud. 1841, Columnea scabrosa Sol. ex DC. 1845]A61
SaintpauliaMH98
|--S. confusaMH98
|--S. ionanthaKSM06
`--S. kewensisR44
Besleria luteaJ87
Columnea L. 1753L95
|--C. domingensis [=Trichantha domingensis]J87
`--C. scandens L. 1753 [incl. C. tulae Urban 1899]L95
Rhytidophyllum Martius 1832L95
|--R. auriculatum Hook. 1837 (see below for synonymy)L95
`--R. bicolorJ87
Rhynchoglossum obliquumSR07
Gloxinia L’Héritier in Aiton 1789L95
`--G. perennis (L.) Fritsch in Engler & Prantl 1894 (see below for synonymy)L95
Marssonia Karst. 1860KC01
Trichosporum Don 1822KC01
`--T. longiflorumR44
Urceolaria Molina ex Brandis 1786KC01
Alloplectus Mart. 1829 (nom. cons.)L95
`--A. ambiguus Urb. 1899 (see below for synonymy)L95
Chrysothemis Decne. 1849L95
`--C. pulchella (Donn ex Sims) Decne. 1849 (see below for synonymy)L95
Episcia Mart. 1829L95
`--E. cupreata (Hook.) Hanst. 1865 [=Achimenes cupreata Hook. 1847]L95
LoxoniaT-W89
Achimenes cheritaT-W89
Cyrtodeira fulgidaT-W89
Peltanthera floribundaJ00
Alloplectus ambiguus Urb. 1899 [=Crantzia ambigua (Urb.) Britt. 1925, Ortholoma ambiguum (Urb.) Wiehler 1973, Trichantha ambigua (Urb.) Wiehler 1975; incl. Alloplectus ambiguus chlorosepalus Urb. 1899, A. ambiguus erythrosepalus Urb. 1899]L95
Chrysothemis pulchella (Donn ex Sims) Decne. 1849 [=Besleria pulchella Donn ex Sims 1808, Tussacia pulchella (Donn ex Sims) Reichenb. ex Oerst. 1858]L95
Gloxinia perennis (L.) Fritsch in Engler & Prantl 1894 [=Martynia perennis L. 1753; incl. G. maculata L’Hér. in Ait. 1789]L95
Rhytidophyllum auriculatum Hook. 1837 [incl. R. stipulare Urb. ex Stahl 1888, R. auriculatum var. stipulare (Urb.) Urb. 1901]L95
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
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