Pilea

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Pilea
Diversity of the genus Pilea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Urticaceae
Tribe: Elatostemateae
Genus: Pilea
Lindl. (1821)
Species[1]

606; see text

Synonyms[1]
  • Adicea Raf. (1824)
  • Adike Raf. (1836)
  • Chamaecnide Nees & Mart. ex Miq. (1853)
  • Dubrueilia Gaudich. (1830)
  • Haroldiella J.Florence (1997)
  • Neopilea Leandri (1950)
  • Sarcopilea Urb. (1912)
  • Therebina Noronha (1790), nom. nud.

Pilea, with 600–715 species, is the largest

family Urticaceae
.

It is distributed throughout the tropics, subtropics, and warm temperate regions (with the exception of Australia and New Zealand).

Description

The majority of species are shade-loving

opposite leaves (with rare exceptions) with a single ligulate intrapetiolar stipule
in each leaf axil and cymose or paniculate inflorescences (again with rare exceptions).

Uses

Pilea is of little economic importance; one species is used in

]

Horticulture

Six species have horticultural value (P. cadierei, P. grandifolia, P. involucrata, P. microphylla, P. nummulariifolia, and P. peperomioides),[2] Some pileas are grown for their ornamental

foliage which is shaped like lily-pads.[3]

The ASPCA includes many pilea species in the list of plants that are non-toxic to pets.[4]

Systematics

The genus has attracted little monographic attention since Weddell (1869), and the majority of taxonomic contributions have come from floristic treatments. To date, 787 species names have been published (International Plant Names Index, 2003) and estimates for the species number range from 250 to 1000.[5] Based on previous floristic treatments, about 30% of the species from regions not yet covered by contemporary floristic treatments may be undescribed.

The genus name Pilea is Latin for "felt cap", a reference to the calyx covering the achene.[6]

Selected species

Fossil record

The

North American Pilea pumila.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Pilea Lindl. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  2. .
  3. ^ Peerless, Veronica (2017). How Not to Kill Your Houseplant. DK Penguin Random House. pp. 108–109.
  4. ^ "Toxic and Non-Toxic Plant List - Cats". Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  5. ^ (C. D. Adams, BM, personal communication).
  6. ^ "Pilea in Flora of North America @". Efloras.org. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  7. ^ Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) [Szczątki makroskopowe roślin z miocenu słodkowodnego Kotliny Sądeckiej (Karpaty Zachodnie, Polska)]. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3-117.

Further reading

Data related to Pilea at Wikispecies

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