Ekmanianthe

Both species of Ekmanianthe were originally described in 1866 by August Grisebach, who placed them in the genus Tecoma.Ekmanianthe in International Plant Names Index. (see External links below).August Grisebach. 1866. Catalogus Plantarum Cubensium, exhibens collectionem Wrightianam aliasque minores ex insula Cuba missas, quas recensuit: 194. Lipsiae. (See External links below). In 1915, Nathaniel Lord Britton placed them in Tabebuia. In 1924, Ignatz Urban, recognizing their distinctiveness, erected the new genus Ekmanianthe in the journal now known as Feddes Repertorium, which was at that time edited by Friedrich Karl Georg Fedde.Ignatz Urban. 1924. Ekmanianthe. pages 308-309. In: "Sertum Antillanum. XX". pages 297-313. In: Friedrich Fedde (editor). Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis (current title: Feddes Repertorium) volume 20. {{doi|10.1002/fedr.19240200615}} (See External links below). Ekmanianthe was named for the Swedish botanist Erik Leonard Ekman (1883-1931)."Anthe" is derived from a Greek word for "flower".Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names volume II. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, USA. London, UK. {{ISBN|978-0-8493-2676-9}} (vol. II). (see External links below).

It consists of two species of trees,David J. Mabberley. 2008. Mabberley's Plant-Book third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. {{ISBN|978-0-521-82071-4}} both of which are considered Endangered by the IUCN Red List:{{Cite journal |date=1998-01-01 |title=Ekmanianthe longiflora: Areces-Mallea, A.E. |url=https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.1998.rlts.t35509a9936077.en |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species|doi=10.2305/iucn.uk.1998.rlts.t35509a9936077.en }}Areces-Mallea, A.E. 1998. Ekmanianthe longiflora. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 1998: e.T35509A9936077. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T35509A9936077.en. Accessed on 18 April 2022.

• Ekmanianthe longiflora grows to {{convert|18|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height and is native to Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and the rocky uplands of central Cuba. The type species for Ekmanianthe is E. longiflora.Ekmanianthe In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below).
• Ekmanianthe actinophylla is a smaller tree, to {{Convert|10|m|ft|abbr=on}} in height, and it only occurs in western Cuba, where it is known as "roble caimán" (English: "caiman oak"), for the resemblance of its trunk bark to the hide of a caiman.Alwyn H. Gentry. 1992. "Bignoniaceae: Part II (Tribe Tecomeae)". Flora Neotropica Monograph 25(part 2):1-373. "Roble" is a Spanish name that is also applied to Tabebuia.

Neither of the species of Ekmanianthe is known in cultivation.

The evolution of Ekmanianthe is in some ways parallel to that of the Asian tribe Oroxyleae. The bat-pollinated Oroxylum has actinomorphic flowers with five fertile stamens. The hawkmoth-pollinated Nyctocalos has elongate flowers and most of the species have only four fertile stamens.

The following description is based on two sources.Eberhard Fischer, Inge Theisen, and Lúcia G. Lohmann. 2004. "Bignoniaceae". pages 9-38. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor) and Joachim W. Kadereit (volume editor). The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume VII. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. {{ISBN|978-3-540-40593-1}}

• Trees to {{Convert|20|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall with thick, ridged bark.
• Leaves opposite, long-petiolate, palmately compound; usually 5-foliate.
• Inflorescence terminal, few-flowered, racemose or narrowly paniculate.
• Calyx cupular, 5-parted, caducous.
• Corolla nearly actinomorphic.
• Corolla tube unlike that of most of Bignoniaceae in that it is not differentiated into two unlike parts, one above and one below the level of stamen insertion.
• Corolla lobes indistinct, deeply laciniate (irregularly cut into slender segments).
• Stamens 4 or 5, exserted or subexserted.
• Ovary linear, with ovules in 2 series.
• Fruit a linear capsule, slightly curved, subterete, with prominent, longitudinal ridges.
• Seeds thin, bialate (with 2 wings).

Ekmanianthe actinophylla is chiropterophilous (bat-pollinated). E. longiflora has the long, narrow corolla tube that is typical of hawkmoth-pollinated flowers.

The basally curved fruit of Ekmanianthe is a distinguishing feature, clearly separating that genus from Tabebuia. The edge of the corolla is laciniate in a few moth-pollinated and a few bat-pollinated species of Tabebuia, but much less so than in Ekmanianthe. The lenticels of E. longiflora and the costae (ribs) on the fruit of E. actinophylla are more prominent than those of any species of Tabebuia. The corolla tube of E. longiflora is longer than that of any species of Tabebuia. E. actinophylla has 5 fertile stamens, a trait not seen in Tabebuia.

The wood of Ekmanianthe has been variously described as "soft" or as "very hard, heavy, and strong".Samuel J. Record and Robert W. Hess. 1940. "American timbers of the family Bignoniaceae". Tropical Woods 63:9-38. Despite this, like many other Tecomeae species, it is rarely cultivated.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.botany.si.edu/ing/INGsearch.cfm?searchword=Ekmanianthe Ekmanianthe, Index Nominum Genericorum]
• [http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do?find_family=&find_genus=Ekmanianthe&find_species=&find_infrafamily=&find_infragenus=&find_infraspecies=&find_authorAbbrev=&find_includePublicationAuthors=on&find_includePublicationAuthors=off&find_includeBasionymAuthors=on&find_includeBasionymAuthors=off&find_publicationTitle=&find_isAPNIRecord=on&find_isAPNIRecord=false&find_isGCIRecord=on&find_isGCIRecord=false&find_isIKRecord=on&find_isIKRecord=false&find_rankToReturn=all&output_format=normal&find_sortByFamily=on&find_sortByFamily=off&query_type=by_query&back_page=plantsearch Ekmanianthe, IPNI]
• [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/403860 page 194, Catalogus plantarum cubensium]
• [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fedr.19240200615/pdf "Sertum Antillanum", Wiley Online Library]
• [http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9780849326769 CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: D-L]

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Category:Bignoniaceae

Category:Bignoniaceae genera

Category:Flora of the Neotropical realm