Phyllachne

Phyllachne is a genus of four cushion plant species in the family Stylidiaceae. Of the four species, two are endemic to New Zealand, while P. colensoi is also native to Tasmania and P. uliginosa is entirely endemic to southern South America and is the only species in the Stylidiaceae native to the Americas. The movement of P. colensoi to colonize Tasmania is a relatively recent move. Molecular studies group P. colensoi, P. clavigera, and P. rubra together in one clade with P. uliginosa in the sister clade. Based on molecular clock data of the rbcL gene, it is estimated that P. uliginosa last shared a common ancestor with the New Zealand clade about 6 million years ago.[1][2]

Phyllachne
Phyllachne colensoi illustration from Johannes Mildbraed's 1908 monograph on the Stylidiaceae.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Stylidiaceae
Subfamily: Stylidioideae
Genus: Phyllachne
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.
Type species
Phyllachne uliginosa
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.
Species

Phyllachne clavigera
Phyllachne colensoi
Phyllachne rubra
Phyllachne uliginosa

References
  1. Wagstaff, S.J. and Wege, J. (2002). Patterns of diversification in New Zealand Stylidiaceae. American Journal of Botany, 89(5): 865-874.
  2. Good, R. (1925). On the geographical distribution of the Stylidiaceae. New Phytologist, 24(4): 225-240.


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