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Deppea splendens

Species of plant From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deppea splendens
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Deppea splendens, also known as the golden fuchsia,[5][6] is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae endemic to Chiapas, Mexico.[3] It is extinct in the wild.[1][3] Despite its common name, it is not closely related to true Fuchsia.[7]

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Description

Vegetative characteristics

Deppea splendens is an evergreen,[8] 5–8 m (16–26 ft) tall shrub or tree with glabrous twigs.[9] The petiolate,[2] stipulate,[10] elliptic to ovate-elliptic leaves with an acuminate apex are 4.5–15 cm long, and 0.8-6 cm wide.[2] The petiole is 0.8–3.8 cm long.[10]

Generative characteristics

The terminal,[9] pendulous, brightly coloured inflorescences[11] bear 16–25[9] pendulous, tubular,[6] tetramerous,[7] ornithophilous[9] 5–[12][7]6 cm long flowers[13] with a red calyx and yellow-orange petals.[6] The tricolporate pollen grains are 21.9–25.7 μm big.[14] The compressed, ellipsoid, 6–8 mm long, and 5–7 mm wide loculicidal capsule fruit bears dark brown, 0.6–1 mm long seeds.[15]

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Taxonomy

It was described by Dennis Eugene Breedlove and David H. Lorence in 1987.[2] Dennis Breedlove was a botanist at the California Academy of Science researching plants and ethnobotany in Chiapas when he discovered it in 1972 in the Motozintla de Mendoza municipality; he brought seeds of the then undescribed shrub to San Francisco in 1981 (he described it formally in 1987). That seed was grown at the University of California Botanical Garden. All plants in existence are from that introduction. It is now grown widely grown, including in the San Francisco Conservatory of flowers, The San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum, and at the Huntington in Southern California.[16] Within the subfamily Dialypetalanthoideae it is placed in the tribe Hamelieae.[17]

Etymology

The specific epithet splendens means shining or brilliant.[18]

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Distribution and habitat

It was once native to high elevation cloud forest in the state Chiapas, Mexico, but has been prusumed extinct in the wild since its habitat was cleared for farmland. It is now found only in horticulture, although efforts have been made to reintroduce it in Mexico.[16][1]

Conservation

The only known population was destroyed for farmland.[19][20] It only persists in ex-situ collections[20] in botanic gardens and private collections.[21] Deppea splendens is self-incompatible,[13][12] but several clones are known to exist.[22] It can also be propagated vegetatively.[13]

Ecology

The flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds.[9][19][7]

Cultivation

It can be easily cultivated[21] in well-drained, nutrient rich substrate under bright and warm conditions,[19] but does not tolerate consistently hot and humid climates.[21]

References

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