Lopezia Explained

Lopezia is a genus of plants of the family Onagraceae, largely restricted to Mexico and Central America.^[1]

Description

Herbs or shrubs, mostly freely branched. Leaves petioled, alternate, or the lower opposite, simple. Flowers -solitary, small, pedicelled, in upper axils of sometimes much reduced leaves. Floral tube inconspicuous. Sepals 4, mostly red, narrow. Petals 4, dissimilar, white to rose, the 2 upper unguiculate, with none, one, or two glands at apex of claw; the 2 lower clawed and curved upward, glandless. Stamens 2, adnate to the style and connate with each other at the base, the posterior fertile, the anterior sterile, petaloid. Ovary 4-loculed; style short, filiform, with slightly enlarged and barely lobed stigma; ovules multiseriate, many. Capsule globose to clavate, coriaceous, 4-loculed and -valved. Seeds many, obovoid, granulate.^[2]

Taxonomy

The genus name of Lopezia is in honour of Manuel López-Figueiras (1915-2012), who was a (Spanish-) Venezuelan botanist (Mycology and Lichenology), from the University of Havana (in Cuba).^[3]

Distribution

It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panamá.^[4]

Species

According to Kew, there are 28 species are recognized in the genus Lopezia in 2022:^[4]

• Lopezia ciliatula Plitmann, P.H.Raven & Breedlove
• Lopezia clavata Brandegee
• Lopezia concinna P.H. Raven
• Lopezia conjugans Brandegee
• Lopezia cornuta S. Watson
• Lopezia coronata Andrews
• Lopezia galeottii Planch.
• Lopezia gentryi (Munz) Plitmann, P.H. Raven & Breedlove
• Lopezia gracilis S. Watson
• Lopezia grandiflora Zucc.
• Lopezia hirsuta Jacq.
• Lopezia integrifolia DC.
• Lopezia laciniata (Rose) M.E. Jones
• Lopezia langmaniae Miranda.^[5] The species name langmaniae was given in honor of Ida Kaplan Langman.
• Lopezia longiflora Decne.
• Lopezia lopezioides (Hook. & Arn.) Plitmann, P.H. Raven & Breedlove
• Lopezia miniata Lag. ex DC.
  • Lopezia miniata subsp. paniculata (Seem.) Plitmann, P.H. Raven & Breedlove
• Lopezia oaxacana Rose
• Lopezia ovata (Plitmann, P.H. Raven & Breedlove) Plitmann
• Lopezia pringlei Rose
• Lopezia racemosa Cav.
• Lopezia riesenbachia Plitmann, P.H. Raven & Breedlove
• Lopezia semeiandra Plitmann, P.H. Raven & Breedlove
• Lopezia sinaloensis Munz
• Lopezia smithii Rose
• Lopezia suffrutescens Munz
• Lopezia trichota Schltdl.
• Lopezia violacea Rose

Notes and References

1. Hoch. Peter C.. Crisci. Jorge V.. Tobe. Hiroshi. 1993-02-01. A cladistic analysis of the genus Lopezia (Onagraceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. en. 111. 2. 103–116. 10.1111/j.1095-8339.1993.tb01893.x. 1095-8339.
2. Web site: Lopezia Cav. . 2022-03-22 . www.worldfloraonline.org.
3. Book: Burkhardt, Lotte . Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen . Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names . Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin . 2022 . 978-3-946292-41-8 . pdf . German . Berlin . 10.3372/epolist2022 . January 27, 2022.
4. Web site: Lopezia Cav. Plants of the World Online Kew Science . Plants of the World Online . 7 July 2022 . en.
5. Miranda. Faustino. 1953. Lopezia langmaniae. Anales Inst. Biol. Univ. Nac. México. 24. 88.