Kingdonia Explained

Kingdonia uniflora is a species of perennial herb native to China. The plants have one leaf and a 100adj=onNaNadj=on flower stalk with a 8mm flower.^[1]

It grows at high elevations in West and North China.^[1] Most of the plants are found in western Yunnan. It is an endangered species. Analysis of its draft genome hinted that its restricted distribution and endangered status relates to the loss of specific gene families.^[2]

Classification

Kingdonia is sometimes classified as the only genus in the family Kingdoniaceae^[3] or as a member of the family Circaeasteraceae along with Circaeaster agrestis, specifically in the APG III system of classification.^[4] Other sources may classify Kingdonia in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae.^[1] In any case it is in the order Ranunculales.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kingdonia uniflora . Flora of China.
2. Sun . Yanxia . Deng . Tao . Zhang . Aidi . Moore . Michael J. . Landis . Jacob B. . Lin . Nan . Zhang . Huajie . Zhang . Xu . Huang . Jinling . Zhang . Xiujun . Sun . Hang . Wang . Hengchang . 2020 . Genome Sequencing of the Endangered Kingdonia uniflora (Circaeasteraceae, Ranunculales) Reveals Potential Mechanisms of Evolutionary Specialization . iScience . 23 . 5 . 101124 . 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101124 . 2589-0042 . 7232092 . 32428861. 2020iSci...23j1124S .
3. http://delta-intkey.com
4. Nowicke . Joan W. . Joan W. Nowicke . Skvarla . John J. . July 1982 . Pollen Morphology and the Relationships of Circaeaster, of Kingdonia, and of Sargentodoxa to the Ranunculales . American Journal of Botany . Botanical Society of America . 69 . 6 . 990–998 . 10.2307/2442896 . 2442896.