The tribe consists of around 230 species distributed in two genera: Bomarea and Alstroemeria. Until a few years ago, this family was considered part of a broad circumscription of the
Liliaceae, but DNA molecular analyses and
phylogenetic analyses based on both molecular data as well as morphology and anatomy, have shown that they belong to a separate family.[4]
Description
Herbaceous, erect plants or supporting
lianas, with sympodial
rhizomes. Some of the roots are thickened and contain
starch. The
stem is foliose.
Leaves are linear to lanceolate or oblong, rather broad in relation to other monocots, entire, narrowing towards the base, usually
resupinated, that is, twisted in such a way that the upper surface during its development becomes lower at maturity.
The
inflorescences are terminal and
umbelliform, forming helical
cymes, usually surrounded by a
bract involucre, rarely reduced to a single flower.
The
flowers are very bright, relatively large,
hermaphrodite, trimerous,
actinomorphic to slightly
zygomorphic. The perigonium consists of 6 free tepals at the base, arranged in two cycles. The color of the flowers can be yellow, red, pink, orange or green, depending on the species and variety; generally with dark spots. They have
nectaries at the base of two of the inner tepals. The
androecium is formed by 6
stamens, arranged in two cycles, with the
filaments free from each other and free from the
tepals, narrow, alternating with the pieces of the
perianth. The
anthers are basifixed, not versatile, with introrse and longitudinal dehiscence.
Microsporogenesis is successive and the
tapetum is glandular.
Pollen grains are sulcate, usually plano-convex and composed of two cells. The
gynoecium has an inferoid, trilocular
ovary with numerous anatropic
ovules with axillary
placentation. The
fruit is a loculicidal capsule, umbonate or truncate apically, with 6 longitudinal ribs.
Diploid Bomarea species have one
chromosome pair more (2n=18) than Alstroemeria species (2n=16); however, they have a shorter total chromosome length. Another difference between the two genera is that Bomarea species have more symmetrical
karyotypes. Karyotypic analyses on these species indicate that there are considerable karyological differences between the two genera.[7][8]
Alstroemerieae is related to
Luzuriageae (a tribe with 2 genera and 5 species), native to
South America (Luzuriaga) and
Australia and
New Zealand (Drymophila). The two tribes share vegetative characters such as being
vines with resupinate
leaves. Both should perhaps be combined into a single family, although APWeb still (January 2009) keeps them separate.[4]
Colchicaceae is also related to Alstroemerieae and
Luzuriageae. Some genera of Colchicaceae have twisted leaves, as do Alstroemerieae and Luzuriageae. Petermannia was included in Colchicaceae in
APG (1998[9]) and
APG II (2003[10]), although it was later determined that this genus (considered a family by APW) is also related to the three families mentioned.[4][11]
The complete
cladogram is given below (
APW,[4] updated to January 2009, based mainly on the analysis of Fay et al. 2006,[12] the relationships suggested by the rbcL study of Janssen and Bremer 2004[13] are quite different, but did not include
Petermanniaceae and
Corsiaceae):
Several revisions of Alstroemeriaceae list four genera within the family: Alstroemeria, Bomarea, Schickendantzia and Leontochir,[14] with the addition of the genus Taltalia in 1998.[15] However, the monotypic genera Schikendantzia and Taltalia have been included within Alstroemeria on the basis of detailed morphological, anatomical and chromosomal studies.[8][16][17][18][19][20] On the other hand, Leontochir ovallei, the only representative of its genus, has been shown in molecular and morphological analyses to be associated and interbred with Bomarea species, so it cannot be recognized as a separate genus.[16] It was transferred in 2000 to Bomarea, as Bomarea ovallei.[21][22]
The exact number of species in both genera is difficult to pinpoint exactly since new species are constantly being discovered for science[23][24][25][26][27][28][29] and there are also nomenclatural problems.[21][30][31][32]
Alstroemeria L., Pl. Alströmeria: 8 (1762). Includes 122 species distributed from southern
Venezuela to southern
South America. The following names are considered synonyms of this genus:
BomareaMirb., Hist. Nat. Pl. 9: 71 (1804). Includes 113 species distributed throughout tropical and subtropical
America. The following genus names are considered synonyms of Bomarea:
VandesiaSalisb., Trans. Hort. Soc. London 1: 332 (1812).
Bomarea edulis is distributed from
Mexico to
Argentina, its
tuberous roots have been used since pre-Columbian times as food. In fact, a well-developed plant can have up to 20 root tubers up to 5 cm in diameter.[21][33]
As ornamental plants
Some of the alstroemeria species cultivated as ornamental plants are:
Alstroemeria aurea: native to southern
Chile, including
Chiloé, it grows in moist undergrowth. It flowers in summer. The plants multiply rapidly thanks to their fine fleshy roots. The stems reach up to 1 m in height. The leaves are lanceolate. The flowers are 3 to 4 cm in diameter, yellow to orange in color and the outer tepals are spotted with greenish tones. For cultivation in the
garden, places with moist soil in full sun or partial shade are recommended. It is the most hardy species of the genus, tolerating up to -15 °C if the roots are protected.[34]
Alstroemeria haemantha: native to
Chile, especially in the
Valparaiso region. It grows on well-drained rocky slopes. It flowers in early summer. It reaches a height of 1 m and the leaves are glaucous on the underside. The flowers are up to 5 cm in diameter and are red to deep orange. The outer tepals are oblong to obovate. It is resistant to temperatures as low as -15 °C.[34]
Alstroemeria ligtu: native to
Chile, it grows in dry stony and sandy soils. It flowers in late spring and early summer and grows between 60 cm and 1 m tall. The flowers are of various colors, usually lilac and pink, reddish or whitish. In the wild, the flowers of this species are pink but the flowers or plants that are marketed as "ligtu hybrids" are actually the product of a cross between A. ligtu and A. haemantha, obtained by
Clarence Elliott in 1927, when he introduced the parental species to
England from Chile. In gardens, it is recommended to be grown in well-drained soil in full sun.[34]
Alstroemeria psittacina is a species that is distributed throughout the
Cerrado and
Pantanal in
Brazil, in
Peru and extends southward to the province of
Misiones in
Argentina. It is a plant about 40 to 60 cm high, with oblong-lanceolate
leaves, obtuse at the apex and attenuated at the base. The
flowers, 4 to 5 cm long, are arranged in
umbels of 5 to 6 flowers. The
tepals are red in the lower two thirds, greenish at the apex and spotted. It should be grown in well-drained soil, moist in summer.[34]
Bomarea ovallei (syn.: Leontochyr ovallei) is a species endemic to
Chile that inhabits stony soils, in full sun, in a restricted coastal area of the III region of Chile. It has red flowers, more rarely yellow, gathered in showy
inflorescences up to 10 cm in diameter. This species is known as "lion's claw" or "lion's hand". It is an endangered species because of its restricted distribution and because its
tubers are food for
guanacos and other animals introduced into its natural habitat. It has great potential as an ornamental species.
Hybrid alstroemerias: origin and genetic improvement
Most modern
cultivars of alstroemeria do not belong to a particular species but are the result of interspecific
hybridization programs. For that reason, modern cultivars, which cannot be ascribed to any particular species, are collectively referred to as Alstroemeria hybrida. The vast majority of modern cultivars, whose breeding was initiated at the Dutch company Van Straaveren in
Aslsmeer, are intended to supply the cut flower market. However, some of them can also be used as excellent garden plants.
Originally, these cultivars came from hybridization between Alstroemeria aurea (used in breeding to incorporate strong, tall stems in hybrid cultivars), Alstroemeria pelegrina (its value in breeding programs lies in its large flowers) and A. ligtu (used for their different colors). As the decades passed, many other species were added to these initial three, such as: A. pelegrina alba, A. angutifolia, A. diluta, A. hookeri, A. kingii, A. magenta, A. magnifica, A. pulchra, A. revoluta, and A. werdermannii.[35][36] There are
barriers to hybridization between Alstroemeria species from
Chile and those from
Brazil. Successful interspecific hybrids have been obtained by in vitro culture of immature hybrid embryos. The cultivars 'Patriot', 'Freedom', 'Redcoat' and 'Liberty' have been produced using this technique.[37][38][39] In addition,
tetraploids (2n=4x=32) of several sterile hybrids have been successfully produced using in vitro chromosome duplication techniques.[40][41]
^Dimitri, M. 1987. Enciclopedia Argentina de Agricultura y Jardinería. Volume I. Descripción de plantas cultivadas. Editorial ACME S.A.C.I., Buenos Aires.
^M. W. Chase, unpublished data, cited in Soltis et al. 2005: p.104).
^Fay, M. F.; Chase, M. W., Ronsted, N., Devey, D. S., Pillon, Y., Pires, J. C., Petersen, G., Seberg, O., y Davis, J. I. (2006). «Phylogenetics of Liliales: summarized evidence from combined analyses of five plstid and one mitochondrial loci.». Aliso (22): 559-565.
^Janssen, T.; Bremer, K. (2004). «The age of major monocot groups inferred from 800+ rbcL sequences.». Bot. J. Linnean Soc.146: 385-398.
^Sanso, A.M.; Xifreda, C.C. (1998), Poster presented at Monocots II, Second International Symposium on the Comparative Biology of the Monocotyledons. Sydney. Australia.
^Bridgen, M. 2000. Mejoramiento genético del género Alstroemeria. En: Los Geófitos Nativos y su importancia en la Floricultura. Patricio Peñailillo B. and Flavi Schiappacasse C., Eds. Universidad de Talca. pp. 55-63.
^Bridgen, M. 1999. Cultivo de Alstroemeria. En: Seemann, P. y Andrade, N. (Eds.). Cultivo y Manejo de Plantas Bulbosas Ornamentales. Universidad Austral de Chile. Pp. 75-83.
^Bridgen, M.P. 1997. Alstroemeria. En: V. Ball, ed., Ball Red Book, 16th ed., pp. 341-348, Geo. J.Ball Publishing Co., W. Chicago, IL.
^Bridgen, M.P. 1994a. A review of plant embryo culture. HortScience 29(1):1243-1246.
^Chiari, A. y M.P. Bridgen. 2000. Rhizome splitting: A new micropropagation technique to increase in vitro propagule yield in Alstroemeria. Journal of Plant Cell, Organ and Tissue Culture. 62:39-46.