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Magnoliopsida
Blakea P. Browne
EOL Text
Syntype for Blakea anomala Donn. Sm.
Catalog Number: US 1363682
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany
Verification Degree: Original publication and alleged type specimen examined
Preparation: Pressed specimen
Collector(s): H. Pittier
Year Collected: 1898
Locality: La Palma., San José, Costa Rica, Central America
Elevation (m): 1450 to 1550
- Syntype: Donnell Smith, J. 1906. Bot. Gaz. 42: 297.
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Rights holder/Author | This image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. Unless otherwise noted, this image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws. |
Source | http://collections.mnh.si.edu/search/botany/?irn=2124286 |
Syntype for Blakea anomala Donn. Sm.
Catalog Number: US 1363683
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany
Verification Degree: Original publication and alleged type specimen examined
Preparation: Pressed specimen
Collector(s): A. Tonduz
Year Collected: 1898
Locality: Sur les vieux frond dans les paturages de La Palma, Costa Rica, Central America
Elevation (m): 1449 to 1449
- Syntype: Donnell Smith, J. 1906. Bot. Gaz. 42: 297.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | This image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. Unless otherwise noted, this image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws. |
Source | http://collections.mnh.si.edu/search/botany/?irn=2100754 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records:10
Specimens with Sequences:4
Specimens with Barcodes:4
Species:5
Species With Barcodes:4
Public Records:4
Public Species:4
Public BINs:0
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007) |
Blakea is a genus of plant in family Melastomataceae.
Species include:
- Blakea acostae, Wurdack
- Blakea attenboroughi, named after the naturalist and television presenter, David Attenborough
- Blakea brunnea, Gleason
- Blakea campii, Wurdack
- Blakea eriocalyx, Wurdack
- Blakea formicaria, Wurdack
- Blakea glandulosa, Gleason
- Blakea granatensis, Naudin
- Blakea harlingii, Wurdack
- Blakea hispida, Markgr.
- Blakea incompta, Markgr.
- Blakea involvens, Markgr.
- Blakea jativae, Wurdack
- Blakea languinosa, Wurdack
- Blakea madisonii, Wurdack
- Blakea oldemanii, Wurdack
- Blakea pichinchensis, Wurdack
- Blakea rotundifolia, D.Don
- Blakea subvaginata, Wurdack
This Melastomataceae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blakea&oldid=619469846 |
Blakea is a genus of a hemiepiphyte flowering plant in the Melastomataceae family and order Myrtales (Almeda, 2000). Blakea can also be terrestrial, epiphytic, or even strangler, and can take the growth forms of lianas, shrubs, and small to emergent trees while intermediate forms such as lianescent shrubs can occur (Pennyes & Judd 2011). It is estimated that there is approximately 100 species in the genus, in the Neotropics (Lumer, 1983). Their center of diversity is known to be in the Choco-Andean region of South America and the mountains of Panama and Costa Rica (Penneys & Judd 2011). This sun-loving genus has been found in various levels in the canopy (Almeda, 2000). Blakea are known to have white to pink axial flowers with green petals (Luther, 1983). There are many different species of bees that pollinate the axial flowers (Almeda, 2000). Birds eat and disperse the red fleshy fruit of Blakea trees (Almeda, 2000). Blakea height can range up to 35 meters and have a trunk diameter of 1 m (Penneys & Judd 2011).
- Almeda, F. 2000. A Synopsis of the Genus Blakea (Melastomataceae) in Mexico and Central America. Novon. 10.4: 299-319.
- Lumer, C. Blakea (San Miguel). In Costa Rican Natural History. Daniel H. Janzen (ed). Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1983. 194-95. Print.
- Penneys, Darin S., and Walter S. Judd. “Phylogenetics and Morphology in the Blakeeae (melastomataceae)”. International Journal of Plant Sciences 172.1 (2011): 78–106.
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Source | No source database. |
This genus is Neotropical, occurring on wet mountane forest areas, but can be can found in the lowlands (Almeda, 2000). Specifically this species can be found from Mexico and the West Indies to Bolivia and Brazil (Lumer, 1983). Northwestern South America is the hotspot for species richness of this taxon (Lumer, 1983).
- Almeda, F. 2000. A Synopsis of the Genus Blakea (Melastomataceae) in Mexico and Central America. Novon. 10.4: 299-319.
- Lumer, C. Blakea (San Miguel). In Costa Rican Natural History. Daniel H. Janzen (ed). Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1983. 194-95. Print.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | in the manner specified by the author or licensor |
Source | No source database. |
Blakea tends to have thick leaves and 3 to 5 nerved leaves with secondary veins (Lumer, 1983). There are some Blakea spp that have tertiary veins spaced 3.3 mm or less apart but there are some species with more widely spaced veins (Penneys & Judd 2011). This species has axial flower that can either be white, pink, magenta, red or a variation of these colors (Lumer, 1983). The flower has 12 stamens that are symmetrical and glabrous (Lumer, 1983). The petals separate from one another when completely expanded and they never conceal the stamens but rather are angled upwardly around the stamens in a circular formation (Lumer, 1983). Anthers are oval shaped with two separated pores that release pollen (Lumer, 1983). The connective appendages on the anthers are uniformly dorsal, simple, and mostly basal (Penneys & Judd 2011). The anthers are primarily short and even though they are mostly oval shaped they can also be oblong or elliptic (Penneys & Judd 2011). There are two pairs of bracts at the base of the flower that is used as support (Lumer, 1983). The petals have a green color with a purple or reddish color at the base (Lumer, 1983).
- Lumer, C. Blakea (San Miguel). In Costa Rican Natural History. Daniel H. Janzen (ed). Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1983. 194-95. Print.
- Penneys, Darin S., and Walter S. Judd. “Phylogenetics and Morphology in the Blakeeae (melastomataceae)”. International Journal of Plant Sciences 172.1 (2011): 78–106.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | in the manner specified by the author or licensor |
Source | No source database. |
Blakea is a sun-loving genus that grows in various levels in the canopy (Almeda, 2000). Species in this genus are often found growing on fallen logs or tree stumps in light gaps caused by tree falls or human clearing (Almeda, 2000).
- Almeda, F. 2000. A Synopsis of the Genus Blakea (Melastomataceae) in Mexico and Central America. Novon. 10.4: 299-319.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | in the manner specified by the author or licensor |
Source | No source database. |
Blakea is mainly dispersed by birds (Almeda, 2000). The birds do not eat the entire fruit but rather just pecks at it. The seeds and inner part of the fruit sticks to the beak of the dispersing bird. After the bird is done eating the fruit, it will fly away and land on a tree. Then from there, the bird will clean off it’s beak by rubbing it against a branch on the tree and the seeds will be dispersed (Almeda, 2000).
- Almeda, F. 2000. A Synopsis of the Genus Blakea (Melastomataceae) in Mexico and Central America. Novon. 10.4: 299-319.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | in the manner specified by the author or licensor |
Source | No source database. |