Sauvallea Explained

Sauvallea is a monotypic genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Commelinaceae, first described as a genus in 1871. The genus consists of a single species, Sauvallea blainii, which was endemic to Cuba.

The species is believed to be extinct.^{[1] [2] [3]}

The genus name of Sauvallea is in honour of Francisco Adolfo Sauvalle (1807–1879), Cuban botanist and expert in molluscs.^[4] It is not known what the Latin specific epithet of blainii refers to.

It was first described and published in Anales Acad. Ci. Méd. Habana Vol.7 on page 608 in 1871. Plants of the World Online note that Sauvallea C.Wright, is a synonym of Sauvallia ^[5]

It was placed within subtribe Thyrsanthemineae, due to its solitary spathe inclosing a single flower. It also has six, equal, filaments bearded (as part of the stamen) and subequal petals. Specimens exist at the Missouri Dunn-Palmer Herbarium.^[6]

Notes and References

1. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=262749 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
2. Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
3. World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Brian Groombridge (Editor)
4. Book: Burkhardt, Lotte . Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition . Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition . Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin . 2018 . 978-3-946292-26-5 . pdf . German . Berlin . 10.3372/epolist2018 . 1 January 2021.
5. Web site: Sauvallea C.Wright Plants of the World Online Kew Science . Plants of the World Online . 6 December 2021 . en.
6. Hertweck . Kate L. . Chris Pire . J. . Systematics and Evolution of Inflorescence Structure in the Tradescantia Alliance (Commelinaceae) 1,2,3 and . Systematic Botany . 2014 . 39 . 1 . 105–116.