Agapanthus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to navigationJump to search

Agapanthus
Agapanthus praecox
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Agapanthoideae
Genus:	Agapanthus L'Hér.
Type species
Agapanthus africanus T.Durand and Schinz
Synonyms[1]
Abumon Adans. Mauhlia Dahl Tulbaghia Heist. 1755, rejected name, not L. 1771

Agapanthus flower and leaves
Agapanthus /ˌæɡəˈpænθəs/^[2] is a genus of plants, the only one in the subfamily Agapanthoideae of the family Amaryllidaceae.^[3] The family is in the monocot order Asparagales. The name is derived from Greek: ἀγάπη (agapē – "love"), ἄνθος (anthos – "flower").
Some species of Agapanthus are commonly known as lily of the Nile, or African lily in the UK. However, they are not lilies and all of the species are native to Southern Africa (South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique), though some have become naturalized in scattered places around the world (Australia, Great Britain, Mexico, Ethiopia, Jamaica, etc.).^[1][4]
Species boundaries are not clear in the genus, and in spite of having been intensively studied, the number of species recognized by different authorities varies from 6 to 10. The type species for the genus is Agapanthus africanus.^[5] A great many hybrids, and cultivars, have been produced. They are cultivated throughout warm areas of the world. They can especially be spotted throughout Northern California.^[6] Most of these were described in a book published in 2004.^[7]
Contents
1

• Description

• 2

  Taxonomy

  • 2.1

    Family placement

  • 2.2

    Species

• 3

  Cultivation

  • 3.1

    Invasive species

  • 3.2

    Pests

• 4

  Allergenic potential

• 5

  References

• 6

  External links

Description[edit]
Agapanthus is a genus of herbaceous perennials that mostly bloom in summer. The leaves are basal, curved, and linear, growing up to 60 cm (24 in) long. They are rather leathery and arranged in two opposite rows. The plant has a mostly underground stem called a rhizome (like a ginger 'root') that is used as a storage organ. The roots, which grow out of the rhizome, are white, thick and fleshy.
The inflorescence is a pseudo-umbel subtended by two large deciduous bracts at the apex of a long, erect scape, up to 2 m (6.6 ft) tall. They have funnel-shaped or tubular flowers,^[8] in hues of blue to purple, shading to white. Some hybrids and cultivars have colors not found in wild plants which includes bi-colored blue/lavender and white flowers and white flowers flushed with pink as the blooms mature. The ovary is superior. The style is hollow. Agapanthus does not have the distinctive chemistry of Allioideae.^{[citation needed]}
Taxonomy[edit]
The genus Agapanthus was established by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1788.^[1]
Family placement[edit]
Which family the genus belongs to has been a matter of debate since its creation. In the Cronquist system, the genus was placed in a very broadly defined family Liliaceae, along with other lilioid monocots. In 1985, Dahlgren, Clifford, and Yeo placed Agapanthus in Alliaceae, close to Tulbaghia.^[9] Their version of Alliaceae also included several genera that would later be transferred to Themidaceae.
In 1996, following a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences of the gene rbcL, Themidaceae was resurrected and Agapanthus was removed from Alliaceae.^[10] The authors found Agapanthus to be sister to Amaryllidaceae and transferred it to that family. This was not accepted by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group when they published the original APG system in 1998, because the clade consisting of Agapanthus and Amaryllidaceae had only 63% bootstrap support. The APG system recognized three separate families, Agapanthaceae, Alliaceae sensu stricto, and Amaryllidaceae sensu stricto. Agapanthaceae consisted of Agapanthus only, and Dahlgren's idea that it is close to Tulbaghia was rejected.
When the APG II system was published in 2003, it offered the option of combining Agapanthaceae, Alliaceae sensu stricto, and Amaryllidaceae sensu stricto to form a larger family, Alliaceae sensu lato. When the name Amaryllidaceae was conserved by the ICBN for this larger family, its name was changed from Alliaceae to Amaryllidaceae, but its circumscription remained the same. When APG II was replaced by APG III in 2009, Agapanthaceae was no longer accepted, but was treated as subfamily Agapanthoideae of the larger version of Amaryllidaceae.^[11] Also in 2009, Armen Takhtajan recognized the three smaller families allowed by APG II, instead of combining them as in APG III.^[12]