Banisteriopsis

• Authority

  Maguire, Bassett. 1978. The botany of the Guayana Highland--part XI. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 32: 1-391.

• Family

  Malpighiaceae

• Scientific Name

  Banisteriopsis

• Description

  
  Deprecated: mb_convert_encoding(): Handling HTML entities via mbstring is deprecated; use htmlspecialchars, htmlentities, or mb_encode_numericentity/mb_decode_numericentity instead in /home/emu/nybgweb/www-dev/htdocs/science-dev/wp-content/themes/nybgscience/lib/VHMonographsDetails.php on line 179
  

  Genus Description - Vines, shrubs, or rarely small trees, the leaves usually opposite or ternate, occasionally subopposite or alternate, bearing glands on the lamina or petiole or both, the stipules small, free, interpetiolar. Flowers borne in 4-flowered umbels, corymbs of up to 10 flowers, or pseudoracemes, these single or grouped in a paniculate or cymose inflorescence; floriferous peduncle usually absent, but well developed in a few species, the floriferous bract and bracteoles all present, eglandular. Petals yellow, pink, or white, usually the lateral 4 spreading or reflexed and the posterior erect. Stamens 10, all fertile, the anthers alike in some species but more commonly strongly dissimilar, the connective greatly exceeding the locules in some anthers of some species. Ovary of 3 free carpels adnate to a common torus, 1 anterior and 2 posterior, all fertile; styles 3 (very rarely only the anterior developing), the stigmas terminal. Fruit schizocarpic, breaking apart into 3 samaras (or fewer due to abortion) separating from a short pyramidal torus, each samara having its largest wing dorsal, thickened on the adaxial (upper) edge, the veins terminating in the thinner abaxial edge; much shorter winglets or crests present on the sides ofthe nut in some species; dorsal wing rudimentary in a few species; nut usually with a functional carpophore.

• Discussion

  10. Banisteriopsis Robinson in Small, North American Flora 25: 131. 1910. Banisteria sensu Adr. Jussieu, Grisebach, et Niedenzu, non Linnaeus Type. Banisteriopsis cornifolia (H.B.K.) Robinson in Small. This wholly American genus comprises approximately 90 species. Dr. Bronwen Gates has just completed a revision of the genus, which will be published in the near future. She has very kindly given me access to her manuscript, and the treatment published here for Banisteriopsis in Guayana has been extracted from Dr. Gates' monograph and adapted to my format. I acknowledge her generous help with warm thanks. Since that modern revision will soon be available, I have cited only the best known synonyms here.