Axinaea Explained

Axinaea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Melastomataceae. As of 2012, there are at least 42 species.^[1] They are small trees and shrubs. They are native to the Americas; almost all are found in the Andes.^[2]

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".^{[3] [4]}

Species include:

• Axinaea affinis (Naudin) Cogn.
• Axinaea carolinae-telleziae^[5]
• Axinaea fernando-cabiesii^[2]
• Axinaea flava^[6]
• Axinaea glauca^[6]
• Axinaea lawessonii E. Cotton^[6]
• Axinaea macrophylla (Naudin) Triana
• Axinaea merianiae (DC.) Triana
• Axinaea ninakurorum^[1]
• Axinaea nitida Cogn.
• Axinaea pauciflora Cogn.
• Axinaea quitensis Benoist
• Axinaea sclerophylla Triana
• Axinaea sessilifolia Triana
• Axinaea sodiroi Wurdack
• Axinaea reginae^[2]

Notes and References

1. Bussmann, R. W., & Zambrana, N. P. (2012). Axinaea ninakurorum (Melastomataceae)− a new species from the northern Peruvian Merianeae hotspot. Arnaldoa 19(1) 23-27.
2. 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.
3. Edwards, J. (2014). Coevolution: puff pollination in tropical flowers. Current Biology, 24(14), R649-R651.
4. 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.
5. Bussmann, R. W. and N. Y. Paniagua. (2013). Axinaea carolinae-telleziae (Melastomataceae)  - another new species from northern Peru. Arnaldoa (20)1 19-24.
6. Cotton, E., Bussmann, R. W., & Lozano, P. 2004. Three new Ecuadorian species of Axinaea (Melastomataceae). Nord. J. Bot, 23(1), 49.