The Gomphrenoideae are a subfamily of the Amaranthaceae.
The have anthers with only one lobe (locule) and two pollen sacs. Many species show C4-photosynthesis pathway.
The center of diversity lies in Central America, Mexico and the dry forests and thorn bush savannas of South America.
Systematics
The subfamily Gomphrenoideae was first published in 1893 by
Hans Schinz (in: Engler und Prantl (Eds.):
Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien vol. 3, 1a, p. 97).
According to phylogenetic research by Sanchez Del-Pino (2009), the subfamily Gomphrenoideae Schinz is regarded as a monophyletic taxon with 19 genera and about 300-400 species. The traditional classification with two tribes (Gomphreneae and Pseudoplantageae) does not reflect the phylogenetic relationship in this group. Three clades can be recognized.:
Iresinoids
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Irenella Suess., with only one species:
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Irenella chrysotricha Suess., in rain forests of Ecuador. Phylogenetically, it falls within Iresine.
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Iresine P.Browne (Syn.: Dicraurus Hook. f.): with about 45 species in North and South America.
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Woehleria Griseb.: with only one species
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Woehleria serpyllifolia Griseb., on mountain coasts of Cuba. Phylogenetically, it falls within Iresine.
This is the sister clade of the two other clades.
Alternantheroids
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Alternanthera Forssk. (Syn.: Brandesia Mart.): with about 100-200 species, mainly in America, also in Africa and Australia.
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Pedersenia Holub: with about 10 species in tropical America.
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Tidestromia Standl.: with about 6 species in deserts of southern North America.
carbon fixation evolved independently in the genera ''Alternathera'', which also contains and – intermediate species, and ''Tidestromia''.[ ][ ]
Gomphrenoids
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Blutaparon Raf. (Syn.: Philoxerus R.Br.): with about 5 species at shores of North and Middle America, West Africa, Micronesia and Japan, for example:
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Froelichia Moench: with about 12 species in America.
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Froelichiella R.E.Fr., with only one species:
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Froelichiella grisea R.E.Fr. in Brasília.
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Gomphrena L. (Syn.: Bragantia Vand.): with about 90 species in America and about 30 species in Australia. This genus is polyphyletic, so taxonomical changes have to be expected.
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Gomphrena pulchella
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Gomphrena decumbens
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Gomphrena globosa
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Gossypianthus Hook.: with 2 species in southern North America.
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Guilleminea Kunth (Syn.: Brayulinea Small)
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Hebanthe Mart.: with about 7 species in tropical America.
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Hebanthodes Pedersen, with only one species:
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Hebanthodes peruviana Pedersen in Peru.
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Lithophila Sw., with 2 species on Galapagos and the Caribic
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Pfaffia Mart.: with about 35 species in tropical America.
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Pseudogomphrena R.E.Fr.,with only one species:
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Pseudogomphrena scandens R.E.Fr. in Brasília.
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Pseudoplantago Suess.: with one species in Venezuela and one in Argentina.
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Quaternella Pedersen: with 3 species in Brasília.
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Xerosiphon Turcz.: with about 2 species in Brasília.
One large clade within this group, containing the genera
Froelichia,
Guilleminea,
Blutaparon, some
Gomphrena species, and probably
Gossypianthus and
Lithophila, has acquired the carbon fixation pathway.
Some of these species occur at unusually high altitudes in the
Andes, in cooler conditions than their relatives.
== Photographs ==
[Kai Müller & Thomas Borsch (2005): Phylogenetics of Amaranthaceae using matK/trnK sequence data – evidence from parsimony, likelihood and Bayesian approaches, In: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 92, p. 66-102.]
[Ivonne Sánchez del-Pino, Thomas Borsch & Timothy J. Motley (2009): trnL-F and rpl16 Sequence Data and Dense Taxon Sampling Reveal Monophyly of Unilocular Anthered Gomphrenoideae (Amaranthaceae) and an Improved Picture of Their Internal Relationships, In: Systematic Botany, Volume 34 (1), p. 57-67. ]
