Disteganthus

Lem. Fl. des Serres III: t. 227. 1847. by Aguirre-Santoro & Michelangeli in Brittonia 67(3): 233-242. 2015

Intro

Disteganthus Lem. (Bromeliaceae) currently consists of two species endemic to northeastern South America in an area encompassed by Guyana, Suriname, French Guyana, and Amapa state in northern Brazil (Funk et al., 2007). This genus belongs to the subfamily Bromelioideae due to its berry fruits and inferior ovaries. Although generic delimitations within Bromelioideae are known to be problematic, Disteganthus has maintained its generic status because of its distinctive lateral inflorescences. This character is rare in Bromelioideae and also occurs in most species of Greigia Regel, which differ from Disteganthus by their considerably shorter peduncles, connate petals, shorter epigynous tube, and mostly Andean geographic distribution (Smith & Downs, 1979). Moreover, recent phylogenetic studies place Disteganthus as a close relative of Ananas Mill., rather than Greigia (Silvestro et a1., 2014), suggesting that the lateral inflorescence evolved more than once in Bromelioideae and should be treated cautiously as a diagnostic generic character. Read more.

Note from Derek Butcher: “To replace under Disteganthus (under Other genera)”