Cyphomandra

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cyphomandra
fruit of Tamarillo, Cyphomandra betacea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Solanales Family: Solanaceae Genus: Cyphomandra C. Martius ex Sendtner
Species
(incomplete list) Cyphomandra abutiloides Cyphomandra betacea tamarillo Cyphomandra cajanumensis Cyphomandra crassicaulis Cyphomandra diploconos Cyphomandra divaricata Cyphomandra diversifolia Cyphomandra dolichocarpa Cyphomandra endopogon Cyphomandra hartwegii Hartweg's cyphomandra Cyphomandra maternum Cyphomandra obliqua Cyphomandra oblongifolia Cyphomandra roseum Cyphomandra unilobum Cyphomandra maternum Cyphomandra sibundoyensis Cyphomandra tegore

Cyphomandra is a genus in the nightshade or potato family of flowering plants, Solanaceae. There are about 35 species in the genus, native to countries of the Americas from Mexico southwards to Northern Argentina; several new species have been described in recent decades. The best known species in the genus is the widely cultivated Tamarillo or tree tomato, but a number of the others are also cultivated as garden plants because of their attractive flowers or fruits. Several also have traditional uses in the regions where they are native. Most grow as shrubs or small trees 2 or 3 metres in height.

Recent authors have treated Cyphomandra as a clade within the genus Solanum rather than as a separate genus.

[edit] References

• Bohs, L. 1988. Four new species of Cyphomandra (Solanaceae) from South America. Systematic Botany 13: 265-275.
• Bohs, L. 1989. Ethnobotany of the genus Cyphomandra (Solanaceae). Economic Botany 43: 143-163.
• Bohs, L. 1994. Cyphomandra (Solanaceae). Flora Neotropica 63: 1-175. (Monographic revision)