Isertia Explained

Isertia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It contains 15 species of shrubs or small trees that are indigenous to the neotropics.^[1] A few are cultivated as ornamentals.^[2]

Systematics

Isertia was named by Johann von Schreber in 1789.^[3] The generic name honors the German botanist and explorer Paul Erdmann Isert.^[4]

Isertia is divided into two sections: section Cassupa and section Isertia. In section Cassupa, the fruit is a berry and the ovary usually has two or three locules. In section Isertia, the fruit is a pyrene and the ovary usually has five or six locules.^[5]

Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Isertia is most closely related to Kerianthera, a monospecific genus from Amazonian Brazil.^[6]

Species

• Isertia coccinea
• Isertia haenkeana
• Isertia hypoleuca
• Isertia krausei
• Isertia laevis
• Isertia longifolia
• Isertia parviflora
• Isertia pittieri
• Isertia psammophila
• Isertia reticulata
• Isertia rosea
• Isertia scorpioides
• Isertia spiciformis
• Isertia verrucosa
• Isertia wilhelminensis

Notes and References

1. Web site: Isertia in the World Checklist of Rubiaceae. 19 April 2017.
2. Huxley AJ, Griffiths M, Levy M, editors. 1992. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. The Macmillan Press Limited, London; The Stockton Press, New York.
3. Book: Schreber J. 1789. Genera Plantarum Eorumque Characteres Naturales Secundum Numerum, Figuram, Situm, & Proportionem Omnium Fructificationis Partium. 8. 1. 234. Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
4. Book: Quattrocchi U. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. 1. CRC Press. Boca Raton, New York, Washington DC, London. 978-0-8493-2675-2.
5. Boom BM. 1984. A revision of Isertia (Isertieae: Rubiaceae). Brittonia. 36. 4. 425–454. 10.2307/2806603. 2806603. 1984Britt..36..425B . 56226559.
6. Manns U, Bremer B. 2010. Towards a better understanding of intertribal relationships and stable tribal delimitations within Cinchonoideae s.s. (Rubiaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 56. 1. 21–39. 10.1016/j.ympev.2010.04.002. 20382247.