Overview of gentian tribal classification

Classification list arranged by genus name

Species:  About 16-20 species in 5 genera. Curtia is the largest genus.

Distribution: tropical South and Central America.

Habitat:  Rainforests, savannas, grasslands. 

Characteristics:  Shrubs, perennial to small annual herbs, or mycotrophs. Leaves alternate, opposite, or whorled.  Flowers (4–)5(–6)-merous, heterostylous in most genera.  Corollas tubular to funnelshaped, mostly white or light-colored. Pollen in monads. Ovary is sessile, without a disk at the base, stigma slightly bilobed. Fruit a capsule.

Evolution and related plants:  The Saccifolieae is the most basal and oldest lineage in the Gentianaceae. It was the first branch to branch off on the family tree of the gentians. 

Economic uses:  None recorded.

Notes:  Saccifolium is known for its strange, saccate leaves.  This genus was originally described as a separate family, but is now included in this group.

Included genera:

Curtia Cham. & Schltdl. (images)
Hockinia Gardner
Saccifolium Maguire & Pires (images)
Tapeinostemon Benth. (images)
Voyriella Miq. (images)

Bibliography: 

Maguire, B. & J. M. Pires. 1978. Saccifoliaceae – a new monotypic family of the Gentianales. Pp. 230-245. In: B. Maguire & collaborators, editors. The Botany of the Guayana Highland – Part X. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 29. 

Struwe, L., J. W. Kadereit, J. Klackenberg, S. Nilsson, M. Thiv, K. B. von Hagen, & V. A. Albert. 2002. Systematics, character evolution, and biogeography of Gentianaceae, including a new tribal and subtribal classification. Pp. 21-309. In: L. Struwe & V. A. Albert (eds.), Gentianaceae: Systematics and Natural History, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Thiv, M., L. Struwe, V. A. Albert, & J. W. Kadereit. 1999. The phylogenetic relationships of Saccifolium bandeirae Maguire & Pires (Gentianaceae) reconsidered. Harvard Pap. Bot. 4: 519-526.

© Lena Struwe, 2003.