| Rotheca | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Rotheca myricoides | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Subfamily: | Ajugoideae |
| Genus: | Rotheca Rafinesque |
| Type species | |
| Rotheca serrata | |
| Species | |
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
CyclonemaHochst. | |
Rotheca is agenus offlowering plants in thefamilyLamiaceae.[1] Estimates of the number ofspecies in the genus vary from about 35[2] to as many as 60.[1] Three of the species arenative totropicalAsia, with the restoccurring inSub-Saharan Africa.[2] Thetype species for the genus isRotheca serrata. It had originally been namedRotheca ternifolia, but this name is now consideredillegitimate.[3]
Rotheca myricoides is native to tropicalEast Africa and iscultivated as anornamental throughout the tropics.[4]Rotheca serrata is from tropicalAsia and has somemedicinal use there.[2]
In the 20th century,Rotheca was rarely recognized as separate fromClerodendrum.Rotheca was revived in 1998 as a result ofphylogenetic analysis ofDNA sequences. It can easily be distinguished fromClerodendrum by acombination ofmorphologicalcharacters.[3]
The following description is adapted from the most recentmonograph on Lamiaceae.[1]
Rotheca is a genus ofshrubs,subshrubs, andherbaceousperennial plants, with a few becominglianas or small trees. They emit an unpleasant odor when damaged. The leaves areopposite orwhorled, andsessile or with a shortpetiole. Thecalyx isactinomorphic or nearly so, and notaccrescent as in some related genera. Thecorolla is blue, purple, or white, (rarely yellow), and 5-lobed. Theabaxial lobe is often larger and different in color. The fourstamens are long-exserted. Theovary is unlobed atanthesis, becoming lobed duringmaturity. The fruit is 4-lobed and resembles adrupe, but eventually separates into four 1-seededmericarps.
Rotheca wasnamed byRafinesque in 1838.[5] Thename is aLatinization of aMalayalamname meaning "smallteak".[3] TheIndian (Malayalam) name has had widely variant spellings.
In 1895,John Isaac Briquet includedRotheca in his rather broadcircumscription ofClerodendrum.[6] Briquet's treatment was generally followed for the next 100 years, but doubts about it were often expressed.[7] The genusRotheca was revived in 1998, based onmolecular phylogenetic work, some of which was not published until 1999.[8] In this work, it was shown that inclusion ofRotheca inClerodendrum renders the latterpolyphyletic.
One commonly consulted species list provides only a few examples.[9] The transfer of species fromClerodendrum toRotheca continues in a piecemeal fashion, and is mostly for the compilation of localfloras.[10] As of July 2015[update],The Plant List accepts the following species:[11]
