Tibouchina [ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607]["Tibouchina." Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. Merriam Webster, 1961.] is a neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Melastomataceae.[
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Description
Tibouchina species are subshrubs, shrubs or small trees. Their leaves are opposite, usually with petioles, and often covered with scales. The inflorescence is a panicle or some modification of a panicle with reduced branching. The individual flowers have five free petals, purple or lilac in color; the color does not change as the flowers age. There are ten , either all the same or dimorphic, with five larger and five smaller ones. The connective tissue below the anthers of the stamens is prolonged and modified at the base of the stamens into ventrally bilobed appendages. When mature, the seeds are contained in a dry, semiwoody capsule and are cochleate (spiralled).[
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Taxonomy
The genus Tibouchina was established by Aublet in 1775 in his Flora of French Guiana with the description of a single species, T. aspera, which is thus the type species.[
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Phylogeny
A Phylogenetics analysis in 2013 based on molecular data (2 plastid and 1 Cell nucleus regions) determined that the traditional circumscription of Tibouchina was paraphyletic. Four major were resolved within the genus which were supported by morphological, molecular and geographic evidence.
A further molecular phylogenetic study in 2019 used the same molecular markers but included more species. It reached the same conclusion: the original broadly circumscribed Tibouchina consisted of four monophyletic clades. The authors proposed a split into four genera: a more narrowly circumscribed Tibouchina, two re-established genera Pleroma and Chaetogastra, and a new genus, Andesanthus. The relationship between Chaetogastra and the genus Brachyotum differed between a maximum likelihood analysis and a Bayesian inference analysis: the former found Brachyotum embedded within Chaetogastra, the latter found the two to be sisters. The part of their maximum likelihood cladogram which includes former Tibouchina species is as follows,[ using their genus names and with shading added to show the original broadly circumscribed Tibouchina s.l.:
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As re-circumscribed, Tibouchina is Monophyly and contains species belonging to the traditional sections T. section Tibouchina and T. section Barbigerae.
Species
, Plants of the World Online accepts the following species within Tibouchina:
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Tibouchina aegopogon (Naudin) Cogn.
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Tibouchina albescens Cogn. ex P.J.F.Guim., A.L.F.Oliveira & R.Romero
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Tibouchina alpestris Cogn.
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Tibouchina araguaiensis P.J.F.Guim.
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Tibouchina aspera Aubl.
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Tibouchina barbigera (Naudin) Baill.
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Tibouchina bicolor (Naudin) Cogn.
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Tibouchina bipenicillata (Naudin) Cogn.
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Tibouchina brevisepala Cogn.
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Tibouchina bruniana P.J.F.Guim.
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Tibouchina caatingae J.G.Freitas
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Tibouchina calycina Cogn.
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Tibouchina catharinae Pittier
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Tibouchina cujabensis Cogn.
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Tibouchina dissitiflora Wurdack
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Tibouchina duidae Gleason
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Tibouchina edmundoi Brade
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Tibouchina exasperata (Naudin) Cogn.
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Tibouchina fraterna N.E.Br.
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Tibouchina huberi Wurdack
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Tibouchina itatiaiae Cogn.
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Tibouchina johnwurdackiana Todzia
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Tibouchina karstenii Cogn.
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Tibouchina lithophila Wurdack
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Tibouchina lepidota P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang.
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Tibouchina llanorum Wurdack
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Tibouchina mathaei Cogn.
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Tibouchina melastomoides (Naudin) Cogn.
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Tibouchina nigricans Cogn. ex P.J.F.Guim., A.L.F.Oliveira & R.Romero
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Tibouchina octopetala Cogn.
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Tibouchina papyrus (Pohl) Toledo
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Tibouchina pogonanthera (Naudin) Cogn.
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Tibouchina rosanae P.J.F.Guim. & Woodgyer
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Tibouchina sickii Brade
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Tibouchina sipapoana Gleason
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Tibouchina spruceana Cogn.
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Tibouchina steyermarkii Wurdack
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Tibouchina striphnocalyx (DC.) Pittier
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Tibouchina verticillaris Cogn.
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Tibouchina xochiatencana de Santiago
Selected former species
Species placed in Tibouchina in its former broad sense include:
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Tibouchina anderssonii Wurdack, synonym of Chaetogastra anderssonii
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Tibouchina asperior (Cham.) Cogn., synonym of Pleroma asperius
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Tibouchina campii Wurdack, synonym of Chaetogastra campii
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Tibouchina ciliaris (Vent.) Cogn., synonym of Chaetogastra ciliaris
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Tibouchina clinopodifolia (DC.) Cogn., synonym of Chaetogastra clinopodifolia
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Tibouchina elegans Cogn., synonym of Pleroma elegans
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Tibouchina francavillana Cogn., synonym of Pleroma francavillanum
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Tibouchina gleasoniana Wurdack, synonym of Andesanthus gleasonianus
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Tibouchina granulosa, synonym of Pleroma granulosum
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Tibouchina gracilis (Bonpl.) Cogn., synonym of Chaetogastra gracilis
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Tibouchina grossa, synonym of Chaetogastra grossa
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Tibouchina heteromalla, synonym of Pleroma heteromallum - silver-leaved princess flower
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Tibouchina lepidota (Bonpl.) Baill., synonym of Andesanthus lepidotus
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Tibouchina mollis (Bonpl.) Bonpl., synonym of Chaetogastra mollis
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Tibouchina mutabilis (Vell.) Cogn., synonym of Pleroma mutabile
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Tibouchina oroensis Gleason, synonym of Chaetogastra oroensis
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Tibouchina pereirae Brade & Markgr., synonym of Pleroma pereirae
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Tibouchina pulchra (Cham.) Cogn., synonym of Pleroma raddianum
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Tibouchina rufipilis (Schltdl.) Cogn., synonym of Chaetogastra rufipilis
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Tibouchina semidecandra, synonym of Pleroma semidecandrum
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Tibouchina trichopoda (DC.) Baill., synonym of Pleroma trichopodum
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Tibouchina urvilleana, synonym of Pleroma urvilleanum - princess flower, glory bush
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Tibouchina versicolor (Lindl.) Cogn., synonym of Chaetogastra versicolor
Distribution and invasive potential
All the species of Tibouchina are native to the Americas as far north as Mexico south to northern Argentina,[ with many found in Brazil,][ Members of Tibouchina tend to be found in lowland savannas and on the lower slopes of the Andes.][Hawaii Administrative Rules, Title 4 Department of Agriculture, Subtitle 6 Division of Plant Industry, Chapter 68, Noxious Weed Rules (, cited 5 February 2007)] because of their high potential for being invasive species.[ Tibouchina urvilleana: Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk project PIER data (http://www.hear.org/pier/species/tibouchina_herbacea.htm, accessed 5 February 2007)][Plants of Hawaii reports: Tibouchina longifolia (, accessed 5 February 2007)][Plants of Hawaii reports: Tibouchina urvilleana (, accessed 5 February 2007)] Many species, such as T. araguaiensis, T. papyrus, T. mathaei and T. nigricans, have narrow distributions, being known from only a handful of locations, while a few other species, including T. aspera, T. barbigera and T. bipenicillata, have broader distributions.
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