Anagallis
Encyclopedia
- For the 2nd century BC grammarian sometimes thought to be named Anagallis, see AgallisAgallisAgallis of Corcyra was a female grammarian who wrote about Homer, according to Athenaeus. Some scholars believe her to have belonged to the hetaerae class. She attributed the invention of ball games to Nausicaa, one of her countrywomen, and most later writers took her bias in this matter as...
.
Anagallis is a genus of about 20–25 species of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s in the myrsine family Myrsinaceae
Myrsinaceae
Myrsinaceae, or the Myrsine family, is a rather large family from the order Ericales. It consists of 35 genera and about 1000 species....
, commonly called pimpernel and perhaps best known for the Scarlet pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America...
referred to in literature. The botanical name
Botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
is from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, ana, "again", and agallein, "to delight in", and refers to the opening and closing of the flowers in response to environmental conditions.
These are annual or perennial plant
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
s, growing in tufts on weed
Weed
A weed in a general sense is a plant that is considered by the user of the term to be a nuisance, and normally applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, especially farm fields and gardens, but also lawns, parks, woods, and other areas. More specifically, the term is often used to...
y and uncultivated areas. The stems
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
are prostrate or decumbent. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are opposite, rarely whorled, and sometimes with a few alternate leaves at the end of the stem. They are usually ovate in shape with a cordate base. Some of the species produce flowers of various colors. The flowers are radially symmetrical and have 5 sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s. The corolla consists of a short tube and 5 lobes. The tube may be so short that the lobes appear to be separate petals. They are usually solitary in the leaf axils, but sometimes are on short spikes at the end of the stem
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
. Pimpernel flowers remain open only under direct sun-light. The stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s are opposite the corolla lobes. The staminal filaments have conspicuous hairs. The ovary is superior, globose, and circumscissile near the middle.
They were formerly classified as members of the primrose
Primrose
-Botany:* Primulaceae, a family of flowering plants* Primula vulgaris, commonly known as the Primrose * Oenothera, commonly known as Evening Primrose, a plant genus...
family (Primulaceae
Primulaceae
Primulaceae is a family of flowering plants with about 24 genera, including some favorite garden plants and wildflowers. It is also known as the primrose family.- Genera :...
), but a genetic and morphological study by Källersjö et al. showed that they belong to the closely related family Myrsinaceae
Myrsinaceae
Myrsinaceae, or the Myrsine family, is a rather large family from the order Ericales. It consists of 35 genera and about 1000 species....
. In the APG III system
APG III system
The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy...
, published in 2009, Primulaceae is expanded to include Myrsinaceae, thus Anagallis is in Primulaceae sensu lato.
Another study by Ulrika Manns and Arne A. Anderberg (2005), based on molecular phylogeny, states that Anagallis in its present circumscription
Circumscription (taxonomy)
In taxonomy, circumscription is the definition of the limits of a taxonomic group of organisms. One goal of taxonomy is to achieve a stable circumscription for every taxonomic group. Achieving stability can be simple or difficult....
is paraphyletic and should also include in its clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
the small genera Asterolinon and Pelletiera, as well as two Lysimachia
Lysimachia
Lysimachia is a genus of flowering plants. It is traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae but should, according to molecular phylogenetic study, be placed to the family Myrsinaceae .-Characteristics:...
species (Lysimachia nemorum and Lysimachia serpyllifolia).
Species
- Anagallis acuminata - (Angola)
- Anagallis alternifolia - (Chile)
- Anagallis arvensis - Scarlet PimpernelScarlet pimpernelScarlet pimpernel is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America...
, Red Pimpernel (Europe; syn. *A. parviflora, A. platyphylla, A. phoenicea) - Anagallis barbata - (Brazil)
- Anagallis brevipes - (Tanzania)
- Anagallis crassifolia - (Spain, Morocco)
- Anagallis djalonis - (tropical Africa)
- Anagallis filiformis - (Brazil)
- Anagallis foemina - Blue Pimpernel (Europe; syn. A. caerulea)
- Anagallis gracilipes - (Zimbabwe)
- Anagallis hexamera - (Ethiopia, Kenya)
- Anagallis kingaensis - (tropical Africa)
- Anagallis minimaAnagallis minimaAnagallis minima is a 1-4 inch perennial herb in the Myrsine family . A native of Europe, this small plant has been widely naturalized elsewhere. It can be found growing in moist soils and seasonal pools....
- Chaffweed (Europe, a cosmopolitan weed whose native status outside Europe is unclear; syn. A. centunculus, previously Centunculus minimus) - Anagallis monelliAnagallis monelliAnagallis monelli is a species of pimpernel, native to the Mediterranean region. It is not to be confused with Anagallis foemina, which has very similar blue flowers, but broader leaves and can can be found also in colder climates. In a comparison of DNA sequences, Anagallis monelli was shown to...
- Flaxleaf Pimpernel (Mediterranean; syn. A. linifolia) - Anagallis nummulariifolia - (Madagascar)
- Anagallis oligantha - (Malawi)
- Anagallis peploides - (Madagascar)
- Anagallis pumila - Florida Pimpernel (Americas)
- Anagallis rubricaulis - (Madagascar)
- Anagallis schliebenii - (Tanzania)
- Anagallis serpens - (eastern Africa)
- Anagallis tenellaAnagallis tenellaAnagallis tenella known in Britain as the Bog Pimpernel, is a low growing, perennial plant found in a variety of damp habitats from calcareous dune slacks to boggy and peaty heaths in Eurasia but absent from North America...
- Bog Pimpernel (Europe; syn. A. repens ) - Anagallis tenuicaulis - (Madagascar)
- Anagallis tsaratananae - (Madagascar)