Cistanthe

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Ordo: Caryophyllales

Familia: Montiaceae
Genus: Cistanthe
Species: C. amarantoides – C. ambigua – C. arancioana – C. arenaria – C. cabrerae – C. cachinalensis – C. calycina – C. celosioides – C. cephalophora – C. chrysantha – C. coquimbensis – C. cymosa – C. densiflora – C. fenzlii – C. frigida – C. grandiflora – C. guadalupensis – C. humilis – C. lamprosperma – C. laxiflora – C. lingulata – C. longiscapa – C. maritima – C. minuscula – C. monandra – C. monosperma – C. paniculata – C. parryi – C. picta – C. pulchella – C. pygmaea – C. quadripetala – C. rosea – C. salsoloides – C. stricta – C. thyrsoidea – C. tovarii – C. tweedyi – C. umbellata – C. weberbaueri
Name

Cistanthe Spach, Hist. Nat. Vég. (Spach) 5: 229. (1836)

Type species: Cistanthe grandiflora (Lindl.) Schltdl., Hort. Hal. 10. (1841)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Calyptridium Nutt. Fl. N. Amer. (Torr. & A. Gray) 1(2): 198. (1838) Synonymy not accepted by Guilliams (2009), Nyffeler & Eggli (2010) and Simpson et al., (2010)
Spraguea Torr. Proc. Amer. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 4: 190 (-191). (1851)
Diazia Phil., Fl. Atacam.: 22. (1860)
Silvaea Phil. Fl. Atacam. 21. (1860)
Philippiamra Kuntze Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 58. (1891) Synonymy not accepted by Nyffeler & Eggli, (2010)
Lewisiopsis Govaerts World Checkl. Seed Pl. 3(1): 21. (1999)

Note This is a view of Cistanthe s.l., but see Calyptridium and Philippiamra for alternative circumscriptions.
References

Spach, É. 1836. Histoire Naturelle des Végétaux. Phanérogames 5: 229.
Guilliams, C.M. 2009. Phylogenetic reconstruction, character evolution, and conservation in the genus Calyptridium (Montiaceae). M.S. Thesis. San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. Full text PDF.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Cistanthe in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Sept. 3. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2017. Cistanthe. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2017. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2017 Apr. 2. Reference page.
Hershkovitz, M.A. 1991a. Phylogenetic assessment and revised circumscription of Cistanthe Spach (Portulacaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 78(4): 1009–1021.
Hershkovitz, M.A. 1991. Taxonomic notes on Cistanthe, Calandrinia, and Talinum (Portulacaceae). Phytologia 70(3): 209-225. PDF Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2017. Cistanthe. Published online. Accessed: Apr. 2 2017.
Miller, J.M. & Guilliams, C.M. 2017. Cistanthe, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, [1], Accessed on April 02, 2017
Nyffeler, R. & Eggli, U. 2010. Disintegrating Portulacaceae: A new familial classification of the suborder Portulacineae (Caryophyllales) based on molecular and morphological data. Taxon 59(1): 227–240. Abstract. Full text (PDF). Reference page.
Ogburn, R.M. & Edwards, E.J. 2015. Life history lability underlies rapid climate niche evolution in the angiosperm clade Montiaceae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 92: 181-192. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.06.006 Full text PDF Reference page.
Simpson, M.G., Silveira, M. & Guilliams, C.M. 2010. Taxonomy of Calyptridium parryi (Montiaceae). Madroño 57(3): 145–160. Full text PDF
Zuloaga, F.O., Morrone, O. & Belgrano, M.J. 2007. Taxonomical and nomenclatural novelties for the Vascular Flora of the Southern Cone of South America. Darwiniana, nueva serie 45: 236–241. Full text HTML

Vernacular names
English: Pussypaws

Cistanthe is a plant genus which includes most plants known as pussypaws. These are small, succulent flowering plants which often bear brightly colored flowers, though they vary quite a bit between species in appearance. Some species have flowers that are tightly packed into fluffy-looking inflorescences, the trait that gives them their common name. Many are adapted to arid environments, with some able to withstand climates that almost completely lack rainfall. Cistanthe was a genus created to segregate several species previously classified in Calandrinia. Several species from other closely related genera have been moved into Cistanthe as well.
Species

As of March 2021, Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:

Cistanthe aegialitis (F.Phil. ex Phil.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe amarantoides (Phil.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe ambigua (S.Watson) Carolin ex Hershk. - desert pussypaws
Cistanthe arancioana Peralta
Cistanthe arenaria (Cham.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe cabrerae (Añon) Peralta
Cistanthe cachinalensis (Phil.) Peralta & D.I.Ford
Cistanthe calycina (Phil.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe celosioides (Phil.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe cephalophora (I.M.Johnst.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe chamissoi (Barnéoud) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe chrysantha (I.M.Johnst.) Peralta & D.I.Ford
Cistanthe coquimbensis (Barnéoud) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe crassifolia (Phil.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe cymosa (Phil.) Hershk.
Cistanthe densiflora (Barnéoud) Hershk.
Cistanthe fenzlii (Barnéoud) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe floresiorum J.M.Watson
Cistanthe frigida (Barnéoud) Peralta
Cistanthe grandiflora (Lindl.) Schltdl.
Cistanthe guadalupensis (M.G.Dudley) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe humilis (Phil.) Peralta
Cistanthe lamprosperma (I.M.Johnst.) Peralta & D.I.Ford
Cistanthe laxiflora (Phil.) Peralta & D.I.Ford
Cistanthe lingulata (Ruiz & Pav.) Hershk.
Cistanthe longiscapa (Barnéoud) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe maritima (Nutt.) Carolin ex Hershk. - seaside pussypaws
Cistanthe minuscula (Añon) Peralta
Cistanthe mucronulata (Meyen) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe oblongifolia (Barnéoud) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe paniculata (DC.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe philhershkovitziana Hershk.
Cistanthe picta (Gillies ex Arn.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe salsoloides (Barnéoud) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe stricta (Phil.) Peralta
Cistanthe thyrsoidea (Reiche) Peralta & D.I.Ford
Cistanthe tovarii A.Galán
Cistanthe trigona (Colla) Hershk.
Cistanthe vicina (Phil.) Carolin ex Hershk.
Cistanthe weberbaueri (Diels) Carolin ex Hershk.

Species now placed in Calyptridium:

Cistanthe parryi - Parry's pussypaws, synonym of Calyptridium parryi
Cistanthe pulchella - Mariposa pussypaws, synonym of Calyptridium pulchellum
Cistanthe pygmaea - pygmy pussypaws, synonym of Calyptridium pygmaeum
Cistanthe quadripetala - fourpetal pussypaws, synonym of Calyptridium quadripetalum

References
Further reading

Hershkovitz, M. A. (1991). Phylogenetic assessment and revised circumscription of Cistanthe Spach (Portulacaceae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 78(4) 1009-21