Axinaea

Axinaea
Axinaea macrophylla
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Melastomataceae
Genus: Axinaea
Ruiz & Pav.
Synonyms
  • Chastenaea DC.

Axinaea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Melastomataceae. As of 2012, there are at least 42 species. They are small trees and shrubs. They are native to the Americas; almost all are found in the Andes.

Plants of this genus are pollinated when birds, several species of fruit-eating tanagers, consume specialized appendages on the stamens. As they grasp the nutritious appendages, a cloud of pollen is released. This has been called "puff pollination".

Species include:

References

  1. 1 2 "Axinaea Ruiz & Pav". Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  2. ↑ Bussmann, R. W., & Zambrana, N. P. (2012). Axinaea ninakurorum (Melastomataceae)− a new species from the northern Peruvian Merianeae hotspot. Arnaldoa 19(1) 23-27.
  3. ↑ Bussmann, R. W., Gruhn, J., & Glenn, A. (2010). Axinaea fernando-cabiesii and A. reginae spp. nov.(Melastomataceae) from upper Amazonia of Peru, with notes on the conservation status of A. flava. Nordic Journal of Botany, 28(5), 518-522.
  4. ↑ Edwards, J. (2014). Coevolution: puff pollination in tropical flowers. Current Biology, 24(14), R649-R651.
  5. ↑ Dellinger, A. S., et al. (2014). A specialized bird pollination system with a bellows mechanism for pollen transfer and staminal food body rewards. Current Biology, 24(14), 1615-19.