Merremia

Accepted name/Authority/Place of publication: 

MERREMIA Dennst. ex Endl., Gen. Pl. 1: 1403. 1841, nom. cons.

Tribe: 
Merremieae
Synonyms: 

Skinneria Choisy, Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 6: 487. 1834.

Spiranthera Bojer, Hort. Maurit. 226, p.p. 1837.

Habit: 
Herbs or lianas, often twining, sometimes prostrate.
Leaves: 
Leaves usually petiolate, rarely sessile, margin entire or dentate, lobed, or palmately or pedately lobed or compound.
Inflorescences: 
Inflorescences axillary, few- to many-flowered, cymose; bracts usually small.
Flowers: 
Flower sepals variable in shape, often markedly convex, nearly equal or outer 2 sepals smaller, persistent, often enlarged in fruit. Corolla funnelform or campanulate, often yellow or white, sometimes with a darker centre, usually glabrous or minutely hair-tufted at apex, rarely midpetaline bands sericeous outside, limb entire or 5-angled, veins often distinct in midpetaline bands; stamens included, often unequal, filaments dilated basally, filiform distally, anthers often spirally twisted; pollen 3–12-colpate or polyrugate, not spiny; pistil included, disc annular, ovary (imperfectly 2–)4-celled, 4-ovuled, style 1, filiform, stigmas 2-globular.
Pollen: 
Pollen 3–12-colpate or polyrugate, not spiny.
Fruits: 
Capsule 1–4-celled, usually 4-valved or +/- irregularly dehiscing.
Seeds: 
Seeds 4 or fewer, glabrous or pubescent to villous especially at margin.
Distribution: 

Tropics and warm temperate zones. map

Number of Species: 
100
Infrageneric Characters: 

Often confused with Ipomoea, which has pantoporate, spiny pollen, straight anthers and very few species with yellow corollas, and Operculina, which consistently has a fruit with a circumscissile lid that detaches first, leaving a brittle endocarp that shatters irregularly, and many species with sericeous-hairy midpetaline bands on the corolla. The distribution of hairs on the corolla is taxonomically important in Merremia; this is most easily discerned on mature flower buds.

Commentary: 

The geus Merremia is almost certainly polyphyletic, both on morphological grounds as well as the molecular data available to date (Stefanovic et al., 2002). Revisionary study now underway will elucidate generic delimitation and systematic relationships in tribe Merremieae.

References: 

Ooststr., Blumea 3: 292. 1939.

Ooststr., Fl. Males. I, 4: 439. 1953.

Staples, Garden's Bull. Singapore 61: 483-522. 2010.

Songkhla & Khunwasi, Thai Forest Bull. (Bot.) 20: 30. 1993.

R.C. Fang & Staples in C.Y. Wu & P.H. Raven (eds.), Fl. China 16: 291. 1995.

Stefanovic, S. et al., Amer. J. Bot. 89: 1510-1522. 2002.

Author/Editor

Author: 
G.W. Staples
Editor: 
G. Staples & Esmond Er
Publication: 

Flora of Thailand 10(3): 431-432. 2010.

Contributors: 
Classification: 
Merremia
Mon, 2011-07-18 02:04 -- Esmond
http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/23fae7ceaa50619ce7ef9c7d4922f7b2.jpg?d=https%3A//convolvulaceae.myspecies.info/sites/all/modules/contrib/gravatar/avatar.png&s=100&r=G

Add new comment

More information about text formats

To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith