{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{for|the town of ancient Greece|Boea (Laconia)}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Boea hygroscopica.jpg | image_caption = ''Boea hygroscopica'' | taxon = Boea | authority = Comm. ex Lam. (1785) | type_species = ''Boea magellanica'' | type_species_authority = Lam. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 12; see text | subdivision_ref = <ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:16915-1 ''Boea'' Comm. ex Lam.] ''Plants of the World Online''. Retrieved 5 August 2024.</ref> | synonyms = * ''Chleterus'' <small>Raf. (1814)</small> | synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo/> }}
'''''Boea''''' is a genus of plants in the family Gesneriaceae, with species originating from Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Polynesia, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.<ref name=SI_checklist>Skog, L.E. & J.K. Boggan. 2007. [http://botany.si.edu/Gesneriaceae/Checklist World Checklist of Gesneriaceae]. Washington, DC: Dept. of Botany, Smithsonian Institution.</ref>
For example, ''B. hygroscopica'', also known as the Queensland rock violet in Australia, occurs in Cape York Peninsula and Northeast Queensland as far south as Rockhampton, from {{convert|60|–|900|m}} elevation. It grows along creek beds, on moist banks, moss-covered rocks in rainforest, open forest, vine forest and gallery forest.<ref name="RFK">{{cite web |author1=F.A.Zich |author2=B.P.M.Hyland |author3=T.Whiffen |author4=R.A.Kerrigan |author2-link=Bernard Hyland |year=2020 |url=https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/entities/Boea_hygroscopica.htm |title=''Boea hygroscopica'' |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 8 (RFK8) |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government |access-date=21 June 2021}}</ref>
Some ''Boea'' species are known as types of resurrection plant due to their ability to survive desiccation (e.g. ''B. hygrometrica'' and ''B. hygroscopica'').<ref>Jiang,G et al. 2007. Planta, May 2007, Volume 225, Issue 6, pp 1405-1420</ref><ref>Navari-Izzo,F et al. 2006. Physiologica Plantarum, Unusual composition of thylakoid membranes of the resurrection plant Boea hygroscopica: Changes in lipids upon dehydration and rehydration, Volume 94, Issue 1, pages 135–142, May 1995</ref>
<gallery widths="180px" heights="180px"> File:Boea hemsleyana plant.jpg|''Boea hemsleyana'' plant File:Boea hemsleyana flowers.jpg|''Boea hemsleyana'' flowers File:Boea hemsleyana seedlings.jpg|''Boea hemsleyana'' seedlings </gallery>
==Cultivation== These cultivation notes are based on ''B. hygroscopica'', a species from Northern Queensland, Australia.<ref>Jacson, S. [http://www.members.westnet.com.au/wackos/PDFs/Growing%20your%20Boea%20hygroscopica.pdf Tropiclimber Cultivation Information].</ref>
''B. hygroscopica'' grows to about {{convert|15|cm|in|0}}, and forms a dense, velvety clump that flowers over many weeks in the warm months.
A well-drained soil is suggested for this plant, achieved by using a potting mix with 20% sand content, and 5mm (~0.2 inches) of scoria or other drainage material in the bottom of the pot. A fertilizer with an NPK ratio of about 13.8:3.2:9.9, plus trace elements, is recommended.
This plant prefers bright, filtered light, possibly with some early-morning direct sun. It can be planted in the garden in a well-drained, consistently moist location.
The only major pests of this plant are chewing insects such as grasshoppers and caterpillars.
==Species== 12 species are accepted.<ref name = powo/>
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em| *''Boea dennisii'' {{small|B.L.Burtt}} *''Boea hemsleyana'' {{small|B.L.Burtt}} *''Boea hians'' {{small|Burkill}} *''Boea hygroscopica'' {{small|F.Muell.}} *''Boea kinnearii'' {{small|(F.Muell.) B.L.Burtt}} *''Boea lawesii'' {{small|(F.Muell.) H.O.Forbes}} *''Boea magellanica'' {{small|Lam.}} *''Boea mollis'' {{small|Schltr.}} *''Boea morobensis'' {{small|C.Puglisi}} *''Boea resupinata'' {{small|Zich & B.Gray}} *''Boea rosselensis'' {{small|B.L.Burtt}} *''Boea urvillei'' {{small|C.B.Clarke}} }}
The Smithsonian also lists:<ref name=SI_checklist/> *''Kaisupeea herbacea'' with the basionym: ''Boea herbacea'' *''Leptoboea multiflora'' with the previous synonym ''Boea multiflora''
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1946132}}
Category:Didymocarpoideae Category:Gesneriaceae genera Category:House plants Category:Flora of the Australasian realm Category:Taxa described in 1785