Medusagyne
| Jellyfish tree | |
|---|---|
| File:Jellyfish tree flowers.jpg | |
| File:Jellyfish tree.jpg | |
| Flower buds, open flowers and the medusa-like dehisced fruit (below) | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Ochnaceae |
| Subfamily: | Medusagynoideae Reveal |
| Genus: | Medusagyne Baker |
| Species: | M. oppositifolia
|
| Binomial name | |
| Medusagyne oppositifolia | |
Medusagyne oppositifolia, the jellyfish tree, is a species of tree endemic to the island of Mahé, of the Seychelles. It is the only member of the genus Medusagyne of the tropical tree and shrub family Ochnaceae. The plant, thought to be extinct until a few individuals were found in the 1970s, gets its common name from the distinctive jellyfish-like shape of its dehisced fruit.[1]
Description
The fruits are green and rounded; the outer coat becomes reddish-brown with maturity and then dries, exposing the seeds within, which are then distributed by the wind.[2]
Classification
The genus Medusagyne is in the family Ochnaceae, e.g. in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification, though it is sometimes in the monogeneric family Medusagynaceae. The small tropical American family Quiinaceae is also included in this broad concept of Ochnaceae.[3]
Development
The pollen ontogeny of the Medusagyne oppositifolia has some unique features that are shown. These features include a large onci that is composed of fibrilla spacer during the early stage of development to represent the atria section of it.[citation needed]
Habitat
The tree inhabits exposed granite slopes, at present all locations are within 2 km (1.2 mi) of the sea.[2]
Threats
The jellyfish tree presents a conundrum in that the seeds seem unable to germinate in the wild; no young plants have been observed in the natural stands.[4] Successful cultivation in botanic gardens has occurred in very humid conditions, but high humidity is unlikely in the exposed habitat where these trees are found in the wild.[4] It has been suggested that jellyfish trees have been lost from the more appropriate habitat of moist forests through competition with other species and climate change.[4]
Conservation
Three of the existing populations of jellyfish tree on the island on Mahé (Bernica, Copolia and Mt. Jasmin) are protected within the Morne Seychellois National Park.[4] Although seedlings have been grown in a number of botanic gardens, many problems remain and a conservation priority must be further researched into the reproductive biology of this intriguing species before any effective Action Plan for its future can be devised.[4]
References
This article incorporates text from the ARKive fact-file "Jellyfish tree (Medusagyne oppositifolia)" under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GFDL.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Matatiken, D.; Huber, M.J. & Ismail, S. (2011). "Medusagyne oppositifolia". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011. IUCN: e.T37781A10072208. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T37781A10072208.en. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedwiser - ↑ Fay, M. F., Swensen, S. M. & Chase, M. W. (1997). Taxonomic affinities of Medusagyne oppositifolia. Kew Bulletin 52: 111-120.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Gerlach, J. (1997). Seychelles Red Data Book. Seychelles: The Nature Protection Trust of the Seychelles.
External links
- Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). "Medusagyne". African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.Error: "Q13073459" is not a valid Wikidata entity ID.
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