Abstract

Lithophytum violaceum Brandegee, until recently known only from a single Mexican collection, has been considered anomalous since it was first described in 1911. This genus was originally assigned to the Solanaceae, but our reexamination of it shows that this relationship is highly unlikely. A plant of xeric habit with small emarginate leaves, it is different from any other known genus. The flowers have five sepals, and the sympetalous corolla is campanulate or salverform. The five equal epipetalous stamens surround a unilocular ovary with two parietal anatropous ovules. Style and stigma are absent, and the locule of the ovary is exposed to the outside by an apical pore. The wood, young stem, leaf, floral anatomy, and pollen were studied in detail, and the aggregate of morphological features accords well with the Verbenaceae.

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