Bartsia


Bartsia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae.

Etymology

Bartsia was named after Johann Bartsch, a botanist of Königsberg. The plant was named for him by his associate Carl Linnaeus, and the genus has been sometimes spelt as Bartschia.
Starbia, an anagram of Bartsia, is another genus of Orobanchaceae, synonym of Alectra.

Phylogeny

The phylogeny of the genera of Rhinantheae has been explored using molecular characters. Bartsia belongs to the core Rhinantheae. Bartsia sensu stricto is the sister genus to Odontites, Bellardia, Tozzia, Hedbergia, and Euphrasia.

Classification

In 1990, the genus was revised to contain 49 species; 45 of them are endemic to the Andes. The most familiar species might be the well-studied Bartsia alpina, which has a circumboreal distribution, occurring throughout northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere. There are also two afromontane species, restricted to the mountains of northeastern Africa: Bartsia decurva and Bartsia longiflora. These two plants, B. alpina, and the many Andean species are three distinct lineages, making the genus polyphyletic.
As a solution to the problem of Bartsia polyphyly, two taxonomic adjustments have been proposed.
  1. All South American species are reclassified into the new genus Neobartsia. This new name keeps traceability with Bartsia while incorporating information about its New World distribution.
  2. The two African species Bartsia decurva and Bartsia longiflora are reclassified into the existing genus Hedbergia.
Accepted species names include the following taxa classified according to geographic distribution groups.

Europe

Bartsia alpina L. - velvetbells

Mediterranean Basin

Bartsia trixago L.

Northeastern Africa

Hedbergia decurva, synonym of Bartsia decurva Hochst. ex Benth.Hedbergia longiflora, synonym of Bartsia longiflora Hochst. ex Benth.

Andean South America

Bartsia acuminata PurshBartsia altissima RusbyBartsia anomala EdwinBartsia asperrima Samp.Bartsia aurea EdwinNeobartsia adenophylla Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia alba Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia aprica Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia australis Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia bartsioides Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia camporum Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia canescens Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia chilensis Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia crenata Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia crenoloba Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia crisafullii Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia diffusa Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia elachophylla Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia elongata Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia fiebrigii Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia filiformis Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia flava Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia glandulifera Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia inaequalis Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia integrifolia Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia jujuyensis Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia laniflora Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia laticrenata Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia lydiae Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov. Neobartsia melampyroides Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia mutica Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia orthocarpiflora Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia patens Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia pauciflora Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia pedicularoides Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia peruviana Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia pumila Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia pyricarpa Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia ramosa Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia remota Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia rigida Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia santolinifolia Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia sericea Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia serrata Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia stricta Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia strigosa Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia tenuis Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia thiantha Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia tomentosa Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia trichophylla Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia tricolor Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.Neobartsia weberbaueri Uribe-Convers & Tank, comb. nov.