PlantaeDB Logo
Login Sign-up

Genus Lopezia in Family Onagraceae

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).

Do you wish to read more about plant taxonomy? Click here!

Genus Description

Suggest a correction!

Lopezia Cav., described from Mexican collections and typified by L. racemosa Cav., is a genus of annual or perennial herbs in the family Onagraceae (Stevens, 2001–; APG IV, 2016). The group comprises approximately 18 species distributed from the Mexican highlands through Central America to Panama, with the greatest concentration in the Sierra Madre Oriental, Transvolcanic Belt, and adjacent Mexican dry forests and montane cloud forests (Raven, 1988; POWO, 2024). Plants are erect to sometimes decumbent, bearing opposite to subopposite leaves that range from entire to dentate and may be glabrous to pubescent; stipules are absent. Inflorescences are terminal racemes with open, nectariferous corollas that vary from pinkish to magenta, occasionally with contrasting spots or veins. The calyx is four-parted; the corolla has a short tube and four spreading lobes; the stamens, typically two fertile and two reduced staminodes, are positioned on the upper side of the flower. Fruit is a septicidal capsule with minute seeds (Raven, 1988).

Species richness is highest in Mexico, and several taxa are narrow endemics of limestone or cloud forests between 1,200 and 3,200 m (Raven, 1988). Flowers are visited by hummingbirds and insects, and dehiscence of dehiscent capsules releases dustlike seeds that are wind-dispersed (Raven, 1988). Chromosome counts across several species confirm a base number of x=11 (Raven, 1988). Phylogenetic analyses using DNA sequence data place Lopezia within Onagroideae as sister to Oenothera and closely related to Calylophus, with Lopezia further resolving into two major clades corresponding roughly to eastern and western Mexican lineages (Levin et al., 2004; Wagner et al., 2007). Subgeneric or sectional treatments are not broadly applied, and Pseudolopezia and Cerciana are historically associated with the genus but have been subsumed under Lopezia in modern treatments; however, the status of some names remains unsettled in regional revisions (WFO, 2024; POWO, 2024; Raven, 1988).

Several species are cultivated as ornamentals for their showy, hummingbird-pollinated flowers, notably L. racemosa and L. maculata; L. racemosa also occasionally naturalizes outside native ranges. No major timber or crop significance is recorded. Conservation status varies locally; many narrow endemics are threatened by habitat loss in the Transmexican Volcanic Belt and Sierra Madre Oriental (Raven, 1988). Targeted phylogenomic studies of Central American taxa and standardized IUCN assessments are needed to refine species limits and conservation priorities.

Pick a Species to see its components: