A Re-Examination of Sanango racemosum. 4. Its New Systematic Position in Gesneriaceae

The investigations of a research team show clearly that Sanango racemosum is a member of the Gesneriaceae. Special emphasis is placed on the following features found in this odd species: the woody habit, the stomata grouped into “islands”, the node with split-laterals, the solid siphono-stele of the petiole, the pair-flowered cymes of the terminal inflorescence, the semi-inferior ovary position, the (axile)-parietal placentation, the oddly shaped nectary, and the presence of the chemical compounds conandroside and sanangoside. All of these are features found in the Gesneriaceae, and most of them are unknown in the rest of the Tubiflorae or Scrophulariales. Sanango may not look like a typical gesneriad at first glance, but it fits best into the Caribbean tribe Gesnerieae, as a companion for the genus Gesneria L. sensu