Bessera

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Asparagaceae
Subfamilia: Brodiaeoideae
Genus: Bessera
Species: B. elegans – B. tenuiflora – B. tuitensis
Name

Bessera Schult.f., 1829.

Type species: Bessera elegans Schult. f.

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Pharium Herb., Edwards's Bot. Reg. 18: t. 1546 (1832).
Behria Greene, Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2(4): 143 (1887).

References

Schultes, J.H., 1829: Linnaea; Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange. Berlin, 4: 121.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2019. Bessera in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Jan. 14. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2019. Bessera. Published online. Accessed: Jan. 14 2019.
The Plant List 2013. Bessera in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Jan. 14.
Tropicos.org 2019. Bessera. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Jan. 14.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 2019. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. Taxon: Bessera (Themidacaeae). .

Vernacular names

Bessera is a genus of Mexican plants in the cluster lily subfamily within the asparagus family.[4][5] It is a small genus of 3 known species of mostly herbaceous flowering plants with corms.[3] They have flowers with petals and petaloid sepals (tepals) with compound pistils.

The genus is named for Austrian and Russian botanist Wilibald Swibert Joseph Gottlieb von Besser (1784–1842).

Bessera elegans, called coral drops, is cultivated and is a half-hardy Mexican herbaceous plant growing from corms with drooping terminal umbels of showy red-and-white colored flowers.

Taxonomy
Species

Current species include:[3]

Bessera elegans Schult.f. — central to southern Mexico.
Bessera tenuiflora (Greene) J.F.Macbr. — Baja California Sur state, including the southern Baja California Peninsula and Gulf of California islands; and the coastal region of mainland Northwestern Mexico.
Bessera tuitensis R.Delgad. — Jalisco state in coastal southwestern Mexico.

Former species

Some plants formerly classified as Bessera species have been reclassified under other genera, which include: Androstephium, Drypetes, Flueggea, Guapira, and Pulmonaria.
Former species include:[1][3]

Bessera azurea — Pulmonaria angustifolia
Bessera breviflora — Androstephium breviflorum
Bessera calycantha — Guapira opposita
Bessera inermis — Flueggea virosa
Bessera spinosa — Drypetes alba

References

Tropicos, search for Bessera
Edwards's Botanical Register; Consisting of Coloured Figures of Exotic Plants Cultivated in British Gardens; with their History and Mode of Treatment. London 25: t. 34 (1839). sulivanica
Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
Stevens, P.F., Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Brodiaeoideae
Govaerts, R. (1996). World Checklist of Seed Plants 2(1, 2): 1-492. Continental Publishing, Deurne.