Graptophyllum Nees.

Daniel, Thomas F., 2018, Chromosome Numbers of Some Cultivated Acanthaceae with Notes on Chromosomal Evolution in the Family, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 64 (9), pp. 319-332 : 323-324

Graptophyllum Nees.

— Graptophyllum consists of about 15 species that occur mostly in the southwestern Pacific region. All previous chromosome counts for the genus are for the widely cultivated G. pictum (L.) Griff, often known as caricature plant. Counts of wild-collected plants in Papua New Guinea (n = 20, 21; Daniel 2000b), which lack the characteristic colored markings on the leaves, are different from those reported for cultivated plants with the foliar color patterns (n = 18, 30; see Daniel 2000b). Our count of n = 31 or 32 is similar to most of the other counts for cultivated plants of this species. Daniel (2000b) discussed possible native occurrences of G. pictum , the diversity of chromosome numbers known for it, and a possible basic number of x = 10.

Based on morphological characters, Graptophyllum would appear to pertain to the “ Pseuderanthemum lineage” (sensu McDade et al. 2000) of Justicieae . A meiotic complement of 21 is widespread among a clade of morphologically similar genera (i.e., Chileranthemum Oerst. , Odontonema Nees , Oplonia Raf. , Pseuderanthemum Radlk. ex Lindau , Ruspolia Lindau , and Ruttya Harv. ) of that lineage ( McDade et al. 2000; Daniel 2000b; Daniel et al. 1990, 2000), here referred to as Odontoneminae sensu stricto (see below under Odontonema and Pseuderanthemum ). It is noteworthy that this number is also known among plants of G. pictum . Additional counts from this species, and especially from other species of Graptophyllum , will be necessary to formulate hypotheses about the evolution of chromosome numbers in that genus. A better understanding of the relationship between cultivated plants and their putative wild relatives would also be useful.