Strobilanthes Blume.

Daniel, Thomas F., 2018, Chromosome Numbers of Some Cultivated Acanthaceae with Notes on Chromosomal Evolution in the Family, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 64 (9), pp. 319-332 : 327

Strobilanthes Blume.

— The Asian genus Strobilanthes Blume consists of about 400 species. Our count of n = 11 for S. hamiltoniana (Steud.) Bosser & Heine (= Goldfussia colorata Nees ; Fig. 2B, E ), native to the Himalayan region of southern Asia, is the first count for this species. At least two other species of the genus (in the broad sense in which it is currently recognized, e.g., Hu et al. 2011; and also including Clarkeasia and Stenosiphonium as per discussion in Tripp et al. 2011; and taking into account synonymies based on Venu 2006 and Karthikeyan et al. 2009) share this same number: S. bracteata (Nees) J.R.I. Wood (e.g., Vasudevan 1976, as S. quadrangularis Clarke ) and S. discolor (Nees) T. Anderson (e.g., Pandey and Pal 1980).

An array of chromosome numbers (n = 8–16, 20, 21, 28, and 30) has been reported for at least 38 species in Strobilanthes , with n = 16 for 18 species being the most commonly reported number (Daniel and Chuang 1998). The genus pertains to Ruellieae: Strobilanthinae where all its subtribal relatives (e.g., Goldfussia Nees , Hemigraphis Nees ) are probably best included within an expanded concept of Strobilanthes to achieve generic monophyly (e.g., Tripp et al. 2013). An ancestral basic number of x = 7, 8, or 10 seems likely for the genus, with both polyploidy and dysploidy accompanying evolution of taxa therein. Indeed, based on numbers reported for S. pavala J.R.I. Wood (= Hemgraphis latebrosa (Heyne ex Roth) Nees ; i.e., n = 12–14, 28; e.g., Kaur 1965, as H. rupestris Heyne ex T. Anderson ; Vasudevan 1976; Saggoo and Bir 1982; Bala and Gupta 2011) both euploidy and dysploidy appear to be likely within that species.

Figures

FIGURE 2 (lower right). Chromosomes of Acanthaceae in pollen mother cells. A. Ruellia costaricensis, telophase II, n = 17. B. Strobilan- thes hamiltoniana, telophase I (distance between poles of cell reduced for presentation), n = 11. C. Pseuderanthemum graciliflorum, metaphase I, n = 21. D. Peristrophe speciosa, metaphase I, n = 30. E. Strobilanthes hamiltoni- ana, diakinesis (showing nucleolus, n), n = 11. Chromosomes shown in outline only are touch- ing or overlapping other chromosomes. Scale applies to all figures. See Table 1 for voucher information.