{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Episcia reptans1.jpg | image_caption = ''Episcia reptans'' | taxon = Episcia | authority = Mart. (1829) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | synonyms = ''Cyrtodeira'' {{small|Hanst. (1853)}} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo>[https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30027415-2 ''Episcia'' Mart.] ''Plants of the World Online''. Retrieved 8 August 2024.</ref>
}}
'''''Episcia''''' is a genus of flowering plants in the African violet family, Gesneriaceae. The ten species it contains are native to the tropical regions of Central and South America. The species are perennial herbaceous plants characterized by a stoloniferous habit, red (rarely orange, pink, blue or yellow) flowers, and frequently have marked or patterned leaves. Episcias are sometimes called '''flame violets'''.
== Taxonomy == thumb|''Episcia cupreata'' thumb|''Episcia lilacina'' The genus name is derived from the Greek επισκισς (''episkios''), meaning "shaded". This refers to the understory habitat of these plants.<ref>{{cite book|first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi|title= CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology |volume=2: D-L |publisher= CRC Press|year= 1999|isbn=0849326761 |page=919}}</ref>
For much of the twentieth century ''Episcia'' had a broad circumscription but since 1978 has been restricted to a much narrower one, with the genera ''Paradrymonia'', ''Chrysothemis'', ''Nautilocalyx'', and ''Alsobia'' separated from it. The segregation of these genera from ''Episcia'' has been supported in recent molecular phylogenies.
=== Species ===
Section ''Episcia'' * ''Episcia andina'' <small>Wiehler</small> * ''Episcia cupreata'' <small>(Hook.) Hanst.</small> * ''Episcia duidae'' <small>Feuillet</small> * ''Episcia lilacina'' <small>Hanst.</small> * ''Episcia prancei'' <small> Wiehler</small> * ''Episcia reptans'' <small>Mart.</small> * ''Episcia xantha'' <small>Leeuwenb.</small> Section ''Trematanthera'' <small>(Leeuwenb.) Feuillet</small> * ''Episcia fimbriata'' <small>Fritsch</small> * ''Episcia sphalera'' <small>Leeuwenb.</small> * ''Episcia rubra'' <small>Feuillet</small>
== Cultivation == They are frequently cultivated elsewhere and sometimes naturalize in tropical regions. In both tropical and temperate regions, they are grown as houseplants primarily for their attractive foliage. Numerous cultivars have been produced, primarily by selection and hybridization of the species ''E. cupreata'' and ''E. reptans''.
== References == {{Reflist}} * Feuillet, C. 2008. Folia taxonomica 7. Two new species and a new section in ''Episcia'' (Gesneriaceae) from the Venezuelan Guayana. ''J. Bot. Res. Int. Texas'' 2(1): 275-280. * Wiehler, H. 1978. The genera ''Episcia'', ''Alsobia'', ''Nautilocalyx'', and ''Paradrymonia'' (Gesneriaceae). ''Selbyana'' 5: 11-60.
== External links == {{Commons category}} {{Wikispecies}} * [http://www.genera-gesneriaceae.at ''Episcia''] from [http://www.genera-gesneriaceae.at The Genera of Gesneriaceae (Follow links)] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060118114902/http://www.gesneriads.ca/genepis.htm ''Episcia'' and ''Alsobia''] from the [http://gesneriads.ca Gesneriad Reference Web]
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Category:Episcia Category:Gesneriaceae genera Category:Flora of the Neotropical realm Category:Taxa described in 1829