Isertia

Isertia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It contains 15 species of shrubs or small trees that are indigenous to the neotropics.^[1] A few are cultivated as ornamentals.^[2]

Isertia
Isertia haenkeana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Rubiaceae
Subfamily:	Cinchonoideae
Tribe:	Isertieae
Genus:	Isertia Schreb.
Type species
Isertia coccinea (Aubl.) J.F.Gmel.
Synonyms
Brignolia DC. Bruinsmania Miq. Cassupa Bonpl. Creatantha Standl. Phosanthus Raf. Yutajea Steyerm.

Systematics

Isertia was named by Johann von Schreber in 1789.^[3] The generic name honors the German botanist and explorer Paul Erdmann Isert.^[4]

Isertia is divided into two sections: section Cassupa and section Isertia. In section Cassupa, the fruit is a berry and the ovary usually has two or three locules. In section Isertia, the fruit is a pyrene and the ovary usually has five or six locules.^[5]

Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Isertia is most closely related to Kerianthera, a monospecific genus from Amazonian Brazil.^[6]

Species

• Isertia coccinea (Aubl.) J.F.Gmel.
• Isertia haenkeana DC.
• Isertia hypoleuca Benth.
• Isertia krausei Standl.
• Isertia laevis (Triana) B.M.Boom
• Isertia longifolia (Hoffmanns. ex Schult.) K.Schum.
• Isertia parviflora Vahl
• Isertia pittieri (Standl.) Standl.
• Isertia psammophila N.Dávila
• Isertia reticulata Britton ex Rusby
• Isertia rosea Spruce ex K.Schum.
• Isertia scorpioides B.M.Boom
• Isertia spiciformis DC.
• Isertia verrucosa (Humb. & Bonpl.) Standl.
• Isertia wilhelminensis Steyerm.