- Melampodium
-
Melampodium 
Melampodium leucanthum Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Asterids Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Subfamily: Asteroideae Tribe: Millerieae[1] Genus: Melampodium
L.Species See text.
Synonyms Alcina Cav.
Dysodium Rich.[2]Melampodium a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae.
The 39 species it contains are commonly known as blackfoots.[3] They are rugged plants native to the tropical to subtropical regions that include Central America, Southwestern United States, California, Florida, the Caribbean, and South America. Most of the species can be found in Mexico, five in the Southwestern United States, and three are scattered in Colombia and Brazil.
The genus consists of annuals and perennials or bushy plants, growing to a height of 1 m. When fully grown, they tend to fall over. They like average, well-drained soil, but can equally grow on rocky soil in deserts. They are moderately to highly drought- and heat-tolerant. Three species of the so-called white-rayed complex are xerophytic.
The foliage varies from bright green to grey-green. The opposite leaves are narrow and about 2-5 cm long.
The terminal flower heads are about 2.5 cm wide. They give a continuous display of white (only in the three species of the white-rayed complex), cream, or yellow daisylike ray florets, surrounding a darker orange center with the disc florets. These eight to 10 broad disc florets are functionally staminate. The five outer bracts are partially joined for about half their length.
The numerous fruits are seed-like (they consist of inner involucral bracts each enclosing and fused with individual ray achenes), with a few narrow scales at their tip. They make this genus one of the most prolific of the summer annuals, with seedlings coming up constantly.
The genus displays a large number of haploid chromosome numbers are based on 4 basic chromosome numbers ( x = 9, 10, 11, 12).
Several cultivars of Melampodium leucanthum have been developed, such as 'Million Gold' and 'Showstar', mostly to achieve a more compact size.
Species
Plains Blackfoot (Melampodium leucanthum)
- Melampodium americanum
- Melampodium appendiculatum B.L.Rob.
- Melampodium argophyllum
- Melampodium aureum
- Melampodium bibractatum
- Melampodium cinereum DC. – Hoary Blackfoot
- Melampodium cinereum var. cinereum
- Melampodium cinereum var. hirtellum
- Melampodium cinereum var. ramosissimum
- Melampodium costaricense
- Melampodium cupulatum
- Melampodium diffusum
- Melampodium divaricatum (Rich.) DC. – Butter Daisy
- Melampodium glabrum
- Melampodium glabribracteatum
- Melampodium gracile
- Melampodium leucanthum Torr. & A.Gray (=Melampodium paludosum Kunth) – Plains Blackfoot
- Melampodium linearifolium
- Melampodium longicorne A.Gray – Arizona Blackfoot
- Melampodium longifolium
- Melampodium longipes
- Melampodium longipilum
- Melampodium mayfieldii
- Melampodium microcephalum
- Melampodium mimulifolium
- Melampodium moctezumum
- Melampodium montanum
- Melampodium nayaritense
- Melampodium northingtonii
- Melampodium nutans
- Melampodium paniculatum
- Melampodium perfoliatum (Cav.) Kunth – Perfoliate Blackfoot
- Melampodium pilosum
- Melampodium pringlei
- Melampodium repens
- Melampodium rosei
- Melampodium sericeum Lag. – Rough Blackfoot
- Melampodium sinaloense
- Melampodium sinuatum
- Melampodium strigosum Stuessy – Shaggy Blackfoot
- Melampodium tenellum
- Melampodium tepicense[4][3]
Formerly placed here
- Acanthospermum australe (Loefl.) Kuntze (as M. australe Loefl.)
- Acanthospermum humile (Sw.) DC. (as M. humile Sw.)
- Eleutheranthera ruderalis (Sw.) Sch.Bip. (as M. ruderale Sw.)[4]
References
- ^ "Genus Melampodium". Taxonomy. UniProt. http://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/176608. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ "Genus: Melampodium L.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1996-09-17. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?7401. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ a b "Zinnia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=38711. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ a b "GRIN Species Records of Melampodium". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?7401. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- Turner, B.L. and R.M. King. 1962. A cytotaxonomic survey of Melampodium (Compositae-Heliantheae) Amer. J. Bot. 49:263-269.
- Stuessy, T. F. 1979. - Cladistics of Melampodium (Compositae). Taxon 28: 179-195.
- Crisci, J.V. & T.F. Stuessy. 1981. Un estudio taxonomico-numerico del genero Melampodium (Compositae, Heliantheae). XVIII Jornadas Argentinas de Botanica. San Miguel de Tucuman, Tucuman, Argentina, 4/7-V-1981. Abstract, pp. 53-54.
- Stuessy, T.F. & J.V. Crisci. 1983. Phenetics of Melampodium (Compositae, Heliantheae). The Ohio Academy of Science, 92nd Annual Meeting Bowling Green State University. Ohio, USA, 22/24-IV-1983.
- Bohm, B.A., and Stuessy, T.F. 1992. Flavonoid variation in Melampodium (Asteraceae). Biochem. Syst. & Ecol. 19: 677-679.
- Seaman Fred C. - Fischer Nikolaus H. - Longipin, a new Melampolide from Melampodium longipes,1979
Categories:- Asteroideae
- Asteraceae genera
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
