Marcgravia


Marcgravia is a genus of plants in the family Marcgraviaceae native to the region spanning from Mexico to tropical South America. It is commonly eaten by the dwarf little fruit bat. The genus is named in memory of the German naturalist Georg Marcgraf. The plant is visited by Thomas's nectar bat.

Description

Vegetative characteristics

Marcgravia are vines or climbing shrubs. Marcgravia is classified as a sub-parasitical shrub. The branches are dimorphic. The sterile branches creep or climb. The pendulous fertile branches are terete and do not bear roots.

Generative characteristics

The terminal, umbelliform, partly sterile inflorescence is composed of a ring of fertile flowers, as well as a number of nectaries derived from bracts, which are fused with sterile flowers. The fertile flowers have four sepals and four petals.

Cytology

The chromosome count is 2n = 36, 38, 62–64.

Taxonomy

It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 with Marcgravia umbellata as the type species.

Etymology

The genus name Marcgravia honours the German naturalist and astronomer Georg Markgraf.

Species

It is native to Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Central American Pacific Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, and to the Windward Islands.

Ecology

The flowers are bat-pollinated.

Use

In Ecuador and Peru the fruits are used as food and the sap is used as a drink.