Bakeridesia gaumeri

Bakeridesia gaumeri
Bakeridesia gaumeri woody, leafy, flowering stem
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Bakeridesia
Species:
B. gaumeri
Binomial name
Bakeridesia gaumeri
Synonyms
  • Abutilon gaumeri Standl.

Bakeridesia gaumeri, with no English name, is a species of bush or small tree native to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Honduras. It belongs the family Malvaceae.

Description

Here are noteworthy features of Bakeridesia gaumeri:

Distribution

Bakeridesia gaumeri is native to southeastern Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, with a disjunct population in Honduras.

Habitat

Bakeridesia gaumeri occurs in various types of Yucatán dry forests and sometimes in secondary vegetation.

Phenology

Bakeridesia gaumeri flowers and fruits sporadically throughout the year but may peak around June.

Human uses

Among the Mayan people of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Bakeridesia gaumeri is considered medicinal, a source of material for textiles, and its flowers are important for honey production.

The textile function probably relates to the use of the strong phloem fibers for which some members of the Malvaceae are famous. Jute derived from the genus Corchorus may be the best known example of such use. The fibers of Bakeridesia gaumeri traditionally have been used by the Maya for making tumplines called mecapales, for carrying burdens on the back. Also, the fibers are used for tying together tamilitos, a small variation of the tamale.

Traditional medicine

Bakeridesia gaumeri is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of dysentery, enterocolitis and diarrhea. Modern studies demonstrate that stem extracts show significant antioxidant activity.

Landscaping

A study of home gardens in tropical Mexico found Bakeridesia gaumeri to be present. Bakeridesia gaumeri is encouraged for landscaping because of its "... attractive, bell-shaped yellow to orange flowers that are visited by bees and butterflies and performs well as an understory or hedge plant in warm climates."

Taxonomy

In 1930 when Paul Carpenter Standley formally described Bakeridesia gaumeri under the name Abutilon gaumeri, he noted that his type specimen had been collected by G.F. Gaumer in the Yucatan.

In his 1973 Revision of Bakeridesia, David Martin Bates writes that in terms of physical features Bakeridesia gaumeri belongs to the section Minores of its subgenus, and that its corolla, calyx and staminal column all are unusually small, plus the number of carpels, ten or fewer, is unusually few for this group. Also, the carpels' "beak" demonstrates a complete or nearly complete loss of winglike projections; in terms of its section, it "... stands at the end of a floral reduction series."

Etymology

The genus name Bakeridesia was coined in 1913 by Bénédict Pierre Georges Hochreutiner in honor of Edmund Gilbert Baker. Both published important works dealing with the Malvaceae.

The species name gaumeri honors George Franklin Gaumer, who collected the type specimen from which the taxon was described.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bakeridesia gaumeri (Standl.) D.M.Bates". Plants of the World Online. United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Bates, David Martin (1973). "Revision of Bakeridesia". Gentes Herbarum; Occasional Papers of the Kinds of Plants. 10 (5). Cornell University: L.H. Bailey Hortorium: 480–483. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Standley, Paul C. (1930). "Studies of American Plants - III" (PDF). Publications of Field Museum of Natural History - Botanical Series. 8. Chicago, IL, USA: Field Museum Press: 24. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  4. ↑ Conrad, Jim (February 12, 2012). "Gaumer's Bakeridesia". Excerpts from Jim Conrad's Naturalist Newsletter. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Bakeridesia gaumeri (Standl.) D.M.Bates". catalogueoflife.org. Catalogue of Life. May 5, 2026. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  6. 1 2 "Taxón: Bakeridesia gaumeri (Standl.) D.M. Bates". Flora de La Península de Yucatán (in Spanish). Mérida, Yucatán, México: Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A.C. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  7. ↑ Durán García, Rafael; Méndez González, Martha Elena; Vera Kú, Blanca Marina; et al. (2010). "Flora nativa como fuente potencial de nuevos fármacos". In Durán García, Rafael; Méndez González, Martha Elena (eds.). Biodiversidad y Desarrollo Humano en Yucatán (PDF) (in Spanish). Mérida, Yucatán, México: Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A.C. pp. 475–479. ISBN 978-607-7823-05-6.
  8. ↑ Goulding, Ernest. "Economic Uses of Malvaceae - Fibre Crops". malvaceae.info. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Yax.PlantBooklet" (PDF). murem.org (in Spanish). Valladolid, Yucatán, México: Museo de Ropa Étnica de México. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  10. ↑ Escalante-Erosa, Fabiola; Ruiz-Vargas, Javier A.; Gómez-Guzmán, Alonso; et al. (2017). "Antioxidant Metabolites from the Stems of Bakeridesia gaumeri". Natural Product Communications. 12 (9). California, USA: SAGE Publishing: 1473–1474. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  11. ↑ Heindorf, Claudia (August 2011). Analysis of the Agrobiodiversity of Home Gardens in the Tropical Regions of Mexico (PDF). Thesis to obtain a degree in Environmental Science. San Luis Potosí, Mexico and Cologne, Germany: Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí and Cologne University of Applied Sciences.
  12. ↑ "Bakeridesia gaumeri". BioGardens.org. Smitteck GmbH. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  13. ↑ Díaz Contreras-Díaz, Danield David; Cruz-Durán, Ramiro (September 2014). "Una especie nueva de Anoda de Guerrero, México". Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad (in Spanish and English). 85 (3). Mexico City, Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. doi:10.7550/rmb.34798. Retrieved June 1, 2026.