Basella

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Basella
Basella alba
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Basellaceae
Genus: Basella
L.
Type species
Basella alba
Synonyms[1]

Gandola Rumph. ex Raf.

The genus Basella is the type genus of the plant family Basellaceae. Basella contains five known species.[2] Three species are endemic to Madagascar, and one is endemic to southeastern Africa. The fifth is widespread across Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, and New Guinea.[1]

The genus name is derived from the south Indian name Basale which Hendrik Rheede recorded in Malabar as Basella in his Hortus Malabaricus. The name was utilitized by Linnaeus.[3][4]

Species[edit]

  1. Basella alba L. - Indian Subcontinent, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea; naturalized in Africa, southern China, Central America, and various oceanic islands
  2. Basella excavata Scott-Elliot - Madagascar
  3. Basella leandriana H.Perrier - Madagascar
  4. Basella madagascariensis Boivin ex. H.Perrier - Madagascar
  5. Basella paniculata Volkens - Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Transvaal, Kwazulu-Natal

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ^ Basella. The Plant List.
  3. ^ Rheede, Hendrik van (1688). Hortus Malabaricus. Vol. 7. p. 45.
  4. ^ Graham, John (1839). A catalogue of the plants growing in Bombay and its vicinity; spontaneous, cultivated or introduced, as far as they have been ascertained. p. 170.

External links[edit]