Eleutherine bulbosa

Eleutherine bulbosa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Iridaceae
Subfamily:	Iridoideae
Tribe:	Tigridieae
Genus:	Eleutherine Herb.[1]
Species:	E. bulbosa
Binomial name
Eleutherine bulbosa (Mill.) Urb.
Synonyms
Bermudiana bulbosa (Mill.) Molina Bermudiana congesta (Klatt) Kuntze Cipura plicata (Sw.) Griseb. Eleutherine americana (Aubl.) Merr. ex K.Heyne Eleutherine anomala Herb. Eleutherine longifolia Gagnep. Eleutherine plicata (Sw.) Herb. Eleutherine plicata Herb. ex Klatt Eleutherine subaphylla Gagnep. Ferraria parviflora Salisb. Galatea americana (Aubl.) Kuntze Galatea bulbosa (Mill.) Britton Galatea plicata (Sw.) Baker Ixia americana Aubl. Sisyrinchium americanum (Aubl.) Lemée Sisyrinchium bulbosum Mill. Sisyrinchium capitatum Pers. Sisyrinchium congestum Klatt Sisyrinchium elatum Seub. ex Klatt Sisyrinchium latifolium Sw. Sisyrinchium palmifolium var. congestum (Klatt) Baker Sisyrinchium plicatum (Sw.) Spreng. Sisyrinchium racemosum Pers.[2]

Eleutherine bulbosa is an herbaceous, perennial flowering plant species in the iris family (Iridaceae). Among Spanish-speakers, the plant is known as lagrimas de la virgen ("tears of the virgin").^[3]

Like other Eleutherine species, E. bulbosa has a bulbous rootstock; a large subapical cauline leaf; and small, white, stellate, evening-blooming flowers. E. bulbosa grows in southern Mexico and in the Amazon rainforest, within the borders of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, in addition to the Brazilian states of Amapá and Acre.^[3] It is widely cultivated for its medicinal properties.

Like E. latifolia, E. bulbosa has a basic chromosome number of x=6 (2n=12); it also has a similar bimodal karyotype, which is distinctive to this plant tribe (Tigridieae); all other genera of the tribe have x=7. Usually, E. bulbosa has a heteromorphic long chromosome pair, the result of a pericentric inversion in one of the long chromosomes, which makes it sexually sterile.^[4]

Rahenna described a subspecies in 1965: E. bulbosa subsp. citriodora.^[5]

References

1. Edwards's Botanical Register 29: t. 57 (1843), nom. cons.
2. "Eleutherine bulbosa (Mill.) Urb.". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 9 March 2014 – via The Plant List.
3. Eleutherine bulbosa at the Encyclopedia of Life
4. Peter Goldblatt and Neil Snow. 1991. Systematics and Chromosome Cytology of Eleutherine Herbert (Iridaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 78, No. 4 (1991), pp. 942-949.
5. "Eleutherine bulbosa". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 25 June 2013.

External links

• Eleutherine bulbosa (Mill.) Urb at the Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
• Eleutherine bulbosa (Mill.) Urb at the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 25 June 2013.