Genus Glandora in Family Boraginaceae
In botanical taxonomy, a genus (plural genera) is a rank used to group closely related species within a family. In the hierarchy, genus sits below family and above species.
Genera are defined by shared morphological, anatomical, and genetic characteristics (for example, features of flowers, fruits, seeds, or leaves) that indicate a close evolutionary relationship among the species they contain.
Each genus can include one or more species. Examples include Rosa (roses) and Solanum (nightshades, including tomato and eggplant).
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Genus Description
Suggest a correction!Glandora is a Western Mediterranean genus in Boraginaceae (subfamily Boraginoideae) with about seven species of low, often cushion-forming subshrubs. Its core distribution is the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, the French Mediterranean coast, and western North Africa, with a center of diversity in the eastern Iberian Peninsula. The type species is G. rosmarinifolia (Ten.) D.C. Thomas, Weigend & Hilger, which anchors the generic concept (Thomas et al., 2008).
Plants have hard, woody bases and densely branched, often prostrate shoots with narrow, sessile, entire leaves, typically covered in short, rough trichomes and sometimes a resinous, glandular indumentum. Leaves lack conspicuous stipules. Inflorescences are terminal, scorpioid cymes that may become leafy at the base; flowers are bright blue to violet, pentamerous, with a rotate to shallowly campanulate corolla and stamens inserted at a similar level, often subtending a pubescent throat. The ovary is 4-locular, with four nutlets (mericarpids) as the fruit; nutlet ornamentation varies, being smooth to finely rugose.
The main centers of diversity lie in the eastern and southeastern Iberian Peninsula, with several local endemics (e.g., on siliceous cliffs and screes of the Sistema Ibérico and Valencian ranges). Species favor open, well-drained, acidic substrates in coastal maquis, low scrub, cliff crevices, and rocky slopes at low to mid elevations, typically
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Glandora diffusa ((Lag.) D.C.Thomas)
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Glandora gastonii ((Benth.) L.Cecchi & Selvi)
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Glandora goulandriorum ((Rech.f.) L.Cecchi & Selvi)
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Glandora moroccana ((I.M.Johnst.) D.C.Thomas)
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Glandora nitida ((Ern) D.C.Thomas)
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Glandora oleifolia ((Lapeyr.) D.C.Thomas)
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Glandora prostrata ((Loisel.) D.C.Thomas)
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Glandora rosmarinifolia ((Ten.) D.C.Thomas)