Aldama (plant)
Aldama is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. The native range of this genus is tropical & sub-tropical America. The genus was originally described to include one species of subtribe Helianthinae that were characterized by having pales that tightly enclosed the cypselae .
It was first published and described in P.de La Llave & J.M.de Lexarza, Nov. Veg. Descr. 1: 14 in 1824.
Aldama is currently, characterized by having a perennial herbaceous habit, a pappus usually of awns and scales, and a multi-seriate involucre.
Botanists Schilling & Panero in 2002 and 2011, studied the subtribe Helianthinae based on molecular sequences of nuclear ITS, ETS, and cpDNA, coming to a conclusion that the genus Viguiera, did not constitute a monophyletic group. Among their conclusions they proposed to reclassify the genus, dividing and relocating its species in at least eleven genera: Aldama, Bahiopsis, Calanticaria, Davilanthus, Dendroviguiera, Gonzalezia, Heiseria, Heliomeris, Hymenostephium, Sidneya and Viguiera. So Aldama has been expanded to include a total of 115-118 species.