Afrocirsium is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae. It includes three species of thistles native to the mountains of eastern tropical Africa.[1]
| Afrocirsium | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Subfamily: | Carduoideae |
| Tribe: | Cardueae |
| Subtribe: | Carduinae |
| Genus: | Afrocirsium Calleja, N.Garcia, Moreyra & Susanna (2023) |
| Type species | |
| Afrocirsium schimperi (Vatke) Calleja, N.Garcia, Moreyra & Susanna[2]
| |
| Species[1] | |
| |
They are spiny perennial herbs growing 0.5 to 2.5 meters tall. They have the plumose pappus characteristic of genus Cirsium, but have distinct characteristics like phyllaries with well-developed pectinate appendages which are not present in Cirsium and the other genera in the Carduus-Cirsium group.[2]
All are native to Afromontane or Afroalpine regions of eastern tropical Africa between 1,600 and 4,600 meters elevation,[2] ranging from South Sudan and Ethiopia to Zambia.[1]
The species now placed in genus Afrocirsium were previously placed in genus Cirsium. The sub-Saharan African species have morphological and karyological features of genera Carduus and Cirsium. A phylogenetic study by Moreyra et al. concluded that these African species formed a clade distinct from Carduus and Cirsium, and sister to the newly described genus Afrocarduus.[2]
Species
editThree species are accepted.[1][2]
- Afrocirsium buchwaldii (O.Hoffm.) Calleja, N.Garcia, Moreyra & Susanna – South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia
- Afrocirsium schimperi (Vatke) Calleja, N.Garcia, Moreyra & Susanna – Ethiopia
- Afrocirsium straminispinum (C.Jeffrey) Calleja, N.Garcia, Moreyra & Susanna – Ethiopia
References
edit- ^ a b c d Afrocirsium Calleja, N.Garcia, Moreyra & Susanna. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Moreyra, Lucía D., Núria Garcia-Jacas, Cristina Roquet, Jennifer R. Ackerfield, Turan Arabacı, Carme Blanco-Gavaldà, Christian Brochmann, Juan Antonio Calleja, Tuncay Dirmenci, Kazumi Fujikawa, and et al. 2023. African Mountain Thistles: Three New Genera in the Carduus-Cirsium Group. Plants 12, no. 17: 3083. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12173083