Genus of flowering plants in Eudicot family Violaceae
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Noisettia is a genus of flowering plants in the violet family Violaceae, with a single known species.
Description.
Shrubs, with oblanceolate (wider near tip) leaves. White flowers strongly zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical), in axillary fascicles. The corolla, which persists to cover the fruit is orange in colour with a yellow throat and with the bottom petal longer than the others and clawed with a very long spur. The stamens have free filaments, with the lowest two being calcarate (spurred) and possessing a large dorsal connective appendage that is entire and oblong-ovate. In the gynoecium, the style is rostellate (beaked). The fruit is a thick-walled capsule with 3–4 obovoid or papillate seeds per carpel.
Taxonomy.
The genus "Noisettia" was first described by Kunth in 1821, with two species "Noisetia frangulaefolia" and "N. orinocensis", placing it in the family Violeae, with five other genera. de Candolle included "Noisettia" in his Violarieae in 1824, with three species and at the same time Martius was describing "N. pyrifolia", although this species was later transferred to the related genus, "Anchietea". In 1846, Lindley classified it in Violaceae, within the Violales, although Bentham and Hooker (1862) called the family Violarieae.
Historically "Noisettia" was placed within Violaceae in subfamily Violoideae, tribe Violeae, subtribe Violinae, together with "Anchietea", "Calyptrion", "Schweiggeria" and "Viola", following Lindley's description of Tribe Violeae. But these divisions have been shown to be artificial and not monophyletic. Molecular phylogenetic studies show that Violaceae is best considered as four clades rather than taxonomic ranks. "Noisettia" occurs in Clade I of the family, consisting of "Viola", "Schweiggeria", "Noisettia" and "Allexis", in which "Schweiggeria" and "Noisettia" are monotypic and form a sister group to "Viola". Clade 1 represents a subset of the original Violinae, together with the West African "Allexis", previously included in tribe Rinoreeae subtribe Rinoreinae.
Etymology.
Kunth named the genus in honour of the horticulturalist Louis Claude Noisette (1772–1849).
Subdivision.
Candolle (1824) recognised three species, considering Kunth's "N. frangulaefolia" to be a synonym of "N. longifolia";
of which "N. longifolia" is considered a synonym of "N. orchidiflora", and only the latter is accepted by Plants of the World Online, while "N. acuminata" is classified as "ambiguous" (unable to reliably identify taxon). Most authors consider "Noisettia" to be monotypic for "N. orchidiflora". "N. orchidiflora" has a large number of other synonyms.
Species.
"Noisettia orchidoflora" was first described by Rudge in 1805. Rudge believing it to be a species of Viola, gave it the name of "Viola orchidoflora", observing that the enlarged lower petal resembled that of an orchid. With the separation of "Noisettia" from "Viola" by Kunth in 1821, Gingins (1823) considered Kunth's original "N. frangulaefolia", as "N. longifolia".
Distribution and habitat.
Humid coastal forests of Northern and eastern South America, including North, Northeast, South and Southeast Brazil, French Guiana, Peru, and Suriname. (see Map, at "Plants of The World Online").
References.
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Bibliography.
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