Gesneriaceae

Urolithiasis is a common worldwide problem with high recurrence. This review covers forty four (44) families starting from alphabet A to L and includes Bignoniaceae (05) Juglandaceae (01) plant used globally in different countries. The plants of three families Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Lamiaceae are revisited to provide updated information. This review will not only be useful for the general public but also attract the scientific world for antiurolithiatic drug discovery.

The genus Senyumia was previously known from a single species, S. minutiflora (Ridl.) Kiew, A.Weber & B.L.Burtt, from a limestone karst, Gunung Senyum, in Pahang, Malaysia. Senyumia granitica Kiew, here described and illustrated, is the second species of the genus. It differs from S. minutiflora, not only in its habitat, but also in its shorter leaves, larger, non-resupinate or only partially resupinate flowers and smaller seeds. It is known from a small, fragmented population from a low range of hills. Therefore, under the IUCN Red List Categories & Criteria, it is assessed as Critically Endangered.

Selaginella lakkidiana Nisha, Nampy & Joby sp. nov. from Lakkidi, the Western Ghats of India is described and illustrated. The new species is closely allied to S. chrysorrhizos Spring, but differs by a serrate and smaller sporophyll, smooth megaspores, and reddish brown and pitted microspores.

Chirita Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don are herbs of limestone while Utricularia L. are small carnivorous herbs of wet habitats. Seed testa surface has proved to provide diagnostic characters for sections Chirita and Microchirita C.B.Clarke in the genus Chirita, replacing the stigma character previously used and showed less variation, therefore caused confusion in the past. Chirita lacunosa (Hook.f.) B.L. Burtt from section Chirita (the only species in this section in Peninsular Malaysia) has a reticulate testa while other species from section Microchirita possess knobbly or cannicolate testa. For the genus Utricularia, species from section Phyllaria (Kurz) Kamienski often show variable macro-characters, but micro-characters such as seed testa are less variable and provide diagnostic characters for species determination. For example, a specimen from the highlands of Kelantan was distinguished from the similar morphology but more common Utricularia striatula Sm. by its testa and could be identi...

Chirita Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don are herbs of limestone while Utricularia L. are small carnivorous herbs of wet habitats. Seed testa surface has proved to provide diagnostic characters for sections Chirita and Microchirita C.B.Clarke in the genus Chirita, replacing the stigma character previously used and showed less variation, therefore caused confusion in the past. Chirita lacunosa (Hook.f.) B.L. Burtt from section Chirita (the only species in this section in Peninsular Malaysia) has a reticulate testa while other species from section Microchirita possess knobbly or cannicolate testa. For the genus Utricularia, species from section Phyllaria (Kurz) Kamiénski often show variable macro-characters, but micro-characters such as seed testa are less variable and provide diagnostic characters for species determination. For example, a specimen from the highlands of Kelantan was distinguished from the similar morphology but more common Utricularia striatula Sm. by its testa and could be identified as U. furcellata Oliv., a rare species formerly recorded only from North East India. The testa cells of U. furcellata have long processes with knobbly tips, while those of U. striatula have glochidiate processes with stellate tips. SEM model JOEL and FEI were used to examine both genera.

Codonoboea is the largest genus of Gesneriaceae in Peninsular Malaysia with 92 species. Nine sections,  Boeopsis, Codonoboea, Didymanthus, Glossadenia, Heteroboea, Pectinati, Reptantes, Salicini and Venusti, have been erected based on morphological characters, such as habit, leaf arrangement and shape, type of inflorescence, number of flowers, corolla type and nectary type. Recent molecular phylogenetic study using ITS and trnL-F sequences show that only section Heteroboea is monophyletic. While the sections of Codonoboea can no longer be maintained as  formal taxonomic taxa, as informal groupings they are useful in identification and in constructing keys.

Colombia is the most diverse Neotropical country of Gesneriaceae. Nevertheless, there are gaps in knowledge of the distribution patterns and ecology of this family because of their taxonomic complexity. A list of the Gesneriaceae of the Quindío department with data for habitat and altitudinal distribution is presented in this paper. The herbarium collections of COL and HUQ were reviewed and fieldwork was carried out between 2009 and 2014 in 70 localities of Quindío. Forty three species and 11 genera were found, with a larger representation of Columnea, Besleria and Kohleria genera; nine species were new records for the Quindío; three were endemic and five species are new to science. The greatest richness was found in the montane forest between 1800 m and 2400 m, mainly in forested areas and streams. The results of this work constitute a baseline to conduct research in ecology, conservation and ornamental potential of Gesneriaceae occurring in Quindío.

Emesis encompasses the forceful expulsion of the contents of stomach via the mouth or sometimes the nose. The adverse effects of currently available anti-emetic agents potentiate the natural product researchers to explore the natural anti-emetics with fewer side effects. The presented communication constitutes a review on anti-emetic effect of two hundred and forty five plants belonging to seventy-eight families found in different parts of the world. It also outlined the anti-emetic effect of plant extracts and isolated secondary metabolites studied through a variety of animal models of emesis. The reported anti-emetic plants in different countries and cultures and the scientific studies on extracts may help in the identification of promising single chemical compound(s) that may be used as a potential leads for developing safe anti-emetic agents in future. Moreover the reported secondary metabolites having the same effect may open the door for the search of same secondary metabolite...

Ongoing research on the systematics of Drymonia (Gesneriaceae) resulted in the discovery of a new species, Drymonia mexicana Clavijo & J.L. Clark of the Gesneriaceae (tribe: Gesnerieae, subtribe: Columneinae). The new species is distinguished by the combination of narrow leaves with large corollas, glabrous leaves adaxially, calyx lobes ovate, and campanulate flowers with the tube slightly recurved ventrally and the limb purple. The new species is endemic to high elevation forests in the the Mexican state of Veracruz. The plant is commonly cultivated, but its introduction from Mexico to the horticultural community is unknown. Here, we describe and illustrate Drymonia mexicana Clavijo & J.L. Clark and present a key to identify the species of Drymonia native to Mexico.

... 2010 doi: 10.3417/2006210. Epiphytic Growth Habits of Chilean Gesneriaceae And the Evolution of Epiphytes Within the Tribe Coronanthereae 1. M. Fernanda Salinas 2, 3 , Mary TK Arroyo 3 , and Juan J. Armesto 2, 3. ... 5. Imprenta Cervantes. Santiago. Rivero, M. 1991. ...