Lacandonia schismatica

Lacandonia schismatica is a species of mycoheterotrophic plant in the Triuridaceae. It is endemic to Lacandon Jungle in the State of Chiapas in southern Mexico.[1] It is known from very few populations and is considered endangered by the researchers who investigate this species.[2] It is the only known flowering plant which in its natural population has a spatial inversion of the reproductive floral whorls (ie stamens and carpels): the stamens are positioned centrally within the flower, and the carpels arranged in a ring around them.[3]

Lacandonia schismatica
Flower of Lacandonia schismatica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Pandanales
Family: Triuridaceae
Genus: Lacandonia
Species:
L. schismatica
Binomial name
Lacandonia schismatica
E.Martínez & Ramos

Lacandonia schismatica is known from several small populations at altitudes around 200 m (656 ft) in the Lacandon Jungle. It grows in shady sites within this rainforest. Gerrit Davidse and Esteban Martínez noted in 1990 how the plants are "extremely localized and highly endangered" due to encroaching habitat conversion to cattle pasture. They also explain that the species is difficult to cultivate and therefore they encourage other scientists to study this unique organism's biology before it can no longer be found in the wild.[4][5][6]

References
  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. Davidse, G. & al. (eds.) (1994). Flora Mesoamericana 6: 1-543. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F..
  3. Vergara‐Silva, Francisco; Espinosa‐Matías, Silvia; Ambrose, Barbara A.; Vázquez‐Santana, Sonia; Martínez‐Mena, Alejandro; Márquez‐Guzmán, Judith; Martínez, Esteban; Meyerowitz, Elliot M.; Alvarez‐Buylla, Elena R. (2003). "Inside‐Out Flowers Characteristic of Lacandonia schismatica Evolved at Least before Its Divergence from a Closely Related Taxon, Triuris brevistylis". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 164 (3): 345–357. doi:10.1086/368235. ISSN 1058-5893.
  4. Márquez-Guzmán, J., Vázquez-Santana, S., Engleman, E. M., Martínez-Mena, A., and Martínez, E. (1993). Pollen development and fertilization in Lacandonia schismatica (Lacandoniaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 80(4): 891-897.
  5. Davidse, G. and Martínez, E. (1990). The chromosome number of Lacandonia schismatica (Lacandoniaceae). Systematic Botany, 15(4): 635-637.
  6. Francisco Vergara-Silva, Silvia Espinosa-Matías, Barbara A. Ambrose, Sonia Vázquez-Santana, Alejandro Martínez-Mena, Judith Márquez-Guzmán, Esteban Martínez, Elliot M. Meyerowitz, and Elena R. Alvarez-Buylla. (2003). Inside-out flowers characteristic of Lacandonia schismatica evolved at least before its divergence from a closely related taxon, Triuris brevistylis. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 164(3): 345-357.
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