Vanhouttea

Vanhouttea calcarata Lem., type species

Cult. & phot. J.K. Boggan, at Cornell University (1990)

Vanhouttea brueggeri Chautems, Serra Negra, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Blaser et al. (2012), Fig. 2h; phot. A. Chautems?

Vanhouttea gardneri (Hook.) Fritsch

Cult. M. Peixoto (Sao Paulo), Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Organ Mts., phot. A. Chautems

Vanhouttea hilariana Chautems, Serra Negra, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Blaser et al. (2012), Fig. 2i; phot. A. Chautems?

Vanhouttea lanata Fritsch

Gloxinian 44 (1994)

Vanhouttea leonii Chautems

Brazil, Minas Gerais, Mt. Caparaó, phot. A. Chautems

Full name and orig. publication: Vanhouttea Lem., Bull. Soc. Hort. Orleans 1: 346 (Jan. 1845).

Etymology: Named in honor of Louis Benoit van Houtte (1810-1876), an acknowledged Belgian holticulturist and editor of the "Flore des Serres et des Jardins de l'Europe". 

Synonyms: Houttea Decne. (1848), nom. superfl.

Infrafamilial position: Gesnerioideae-Gesnerieae-Ligeriinae (Weber et al. 2013).

Description: Terrestrial shrubs or subshrubs, with fibrous roots (no tubers or typical rhizomes present). Leaves opposite. Corolla tubular, cylindrical, or arcuate, orange-red or red. Nectary of 5 individual glands (sometimes connected at the base by a narrow ring). Ovary semi-inferior. Fruit a dry, bivalved capsule.

Chromosome number: 2n = 26 (Fuchs et al. 2011).

Species number: 10.

Type species: Vanhouttea calcarata Lem.

Species names (given only in case of few species): (1) Vanhouttea bradei Hoehne, (2) V. brueggeri Chautems, (3) V. calcarata Lem., (4) V. fruticulosa (Glaz. ex Hoehne) Chautems, (5) V. gardneri (Hook.) Fritsch, (6) V. hilariana Chautems, (7) V. lanata Fritsch, (8) V. leonii Chautems, (9) V. mollis Fritsch, (10) V. pendula Chautems.

Distribution: SE Brazil.

Ecology: The plants grow mainly in the "campo de altitude" vegetation of Brazil, on damp rocks at higher elevations (to 1600m).

Notes:
(1) The genus is morphologically very close to Paliavana and Sinningia, constituting subtribe Ligeriinae in tribe Gesnerieae (Weber et al. 2013). Both morphological (Boggan 1993) and molecular data (Perret et al. 2003) suggest either union of the three genera (under Sinningia) or reorganization of subtribe Ligeriinae, but formal-taxonomic action has not been taken yet.
(2) V. brueggeri and V. hilariana are morphologically close (differences in the calyx). Intermediate forms are due to hybridization (Fuchs et al. 2011).
(3) In all Vanhouttea species corolla form and colour indicate ornithophily. Confirmation of hummingbird-pollination was by SanMartin-Gajardo & Sazima (2005).

Selected references: Wiehler, Selbyana 6: 180 (1983); Boggan, A morphological study and cladistics analysis of Sinningia and associated genera with particular reference to Lembocarpus, Lietzia, Paliavana, and Vanhouttea (Gesneriaceae: Gloxinieae). Unpubl. M.Sci thesis (1993). Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, morph., cladistics; Chautems, Candollea 56: 261-279 (2002), rev., new spp.; Perret et al., Amer. J. Bot. 90 (3): 445-460 (2003), mol. syst.; SanMartin-Gajardo & Sazima, Rev. Bras. Bot. [Brazil] 28: 441-450 (2005), poll.; Fuchs et al., Anal. Biol. [Brazil] 33: 35-40 (2011), karyol., hybr.; Blaser et al., Rodriguésia 63(3): 705-714 (2012), reg. Rev. (Serra Negra, Minas Gerais, Brazil).

Tax. details, cytology, and bibliography: Gesneriaceae Resource Centre (GRC). Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Page content and update responsibility/contact: Alain Chautems.
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