# Mimophytum

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Genus of flowering plants in the borage family Boraginaceae

Mimophytum Mimophytum sp. Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Clade: Embryophytes Clade: Tracheophytes Clade: Spermatophytes Clade: Angiosperms Clade: Eudicots Clade: Asterids Order: Boraginales Family: Boraginaceae Subfamily: Boraginoideae Genus: Mimophytum Greenm. (1905) Type species Mimophytum omphalodoides Greenm. Species[1] 11; see text

***Mimophytum*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [flowering plants](/source/Flowering_plant) in the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) Boraginaceae. The species are native to northeastern [Mexico](/source/Mexico) and adjacent areas of [Texas](/source/Texas), [United States](/source/United_States). They are similar to the closely related genus *[Omphalodes](/source/Omphalodes)* but a distinct group.

## Morphology

*Mimophytum* species are (sub-)perennial herbs, either with a [rhizome](/source/Rhizome) or erect. The leaves have petioles and are heart-shaped or rhombic. They produce blue flowers similar to [forget-me-nots](/source/Forget-me-nots).[2] The [fruits](/source/Fruit) consist of four winged nutlets. The nutlet wing can be turned upwards, creating a navel-like shape, similar to the fruits of *[Omphalodes](/source/Omphalodes)*. In two species, *[M. alienum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_alienum&action=edit&redlink=1)* and *[M. alienoides](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_alienoides&action=edit&redlink=1)*, there are two differently shaped fruits: two navel-like nutlets and two nutlets with flat wings. In three species, *[M. omphalodoides](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_omphalodoides&action=edit&redlink=1)*, *[M. benitomartinezii](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_benitomartinezii&action=edit&redlink=1)*, and *[M. richardsonii](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_richardsonii&action=edit&redlink=1)*, the wings of the navel-shaped nutlets are beset with small barbed [glochidia](/source/Glochid).

## Species

11 species are accepted.[1]

- *[Mimophytum alienoides](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_alienoides&action=edit&redlink=1)* (G.L.Nesom) Holstein & Weigend

- *[Mimophytum alienum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_alienum&action=edit&redlink=1)* (A.Gray ex Hemsl.) R.R.Mill ex Holstein & Weigend

- *[Mimophytum australe](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_australe&action=edit&redlink=1)* (G.L.Nesom) R.R.Mill ex Holstein & Weigend

- *[Mimophytum benitomartinezii](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_benitomartinezii&action=edit&redlink=1)* Pérez-Calix & Pat.-Sicil.

- *[Mimophytum cardiophyllum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_cardiophyllum&action=edit&redlink=1)* (A.Gray ex Hemsl.) R.R.Mill ex Holstein & Weigend

- *[Mimophytum carranzae](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_carranzae&action=edit&redlink=1)* (G.L.Nesom) Holstein & Weigend

- *[Mimophytum chiangii](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_chiangii&action=edit&redlink=1)* (L.C.Higgins) Holstein & Weigend

- *[Mimophytum erectum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_erectum&action=edit&redlink=1)* (I.M.Johnst.) A.Otero, Jim.Mejías, Valcárcel & P.Vargas

- *[Mimophytum mexicanum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_mexicanum&action=edit&redlink=1)* (S.Watson) R.R.Mill ex Holstein & Weigend

- *[Mimophytum omphalodoides](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_omphalodoides&action=edit&redlink=1)* Greenm.

- *[Mimophytum richardsonii](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_richardsonii&action=edit&redlink=1)* (G.L.Nesom) G.L.Nesom

## Systematics

The *barbed glochidia* on the nutlet wing was a character that led [Greenman](/source/Jesse_More_Greenman) to describe his new species, *Mimophytum omphalodoides*, in new genus.[3] However, Greenman already recognized the similarity of many characters of his new species to *Omphalodes*. The species without these glochidiate nutlet wings were considered as belonging to *Omphalodes*,[2] but the similarity was always recognized. New phylogenetic work showed that the native Mexican and Texan "*Omphalodes*" species are a [clade](/source/Clade), distinct from the true *Omphalodes* from Europe.[4] A later phylogenetic placement of the type species of *Mimophytum* within the North American clade of *Omphalodes* confirmed the suggested close relationship, leading to the taxonomic transfer of most of the native North American *Omphalodes* names to *Mimophytum*.[5] A single remaining *Omphalodes* species from Mexico, *O. erecta* was initially excluded from this process, because it is morphologically too deviant to infer an unequivocal classification to *Mimophytum* from morphology alone. A phylogenetic study published in 2019 confirmed that *O. erecta* belongs to the *Mimophytum* clade, and it was renamed *[Mimophytum erectum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mimophytum_erectum&action=edit&redlink=1)*.[6]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-powo_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-powo_1-1) [*Mimophytum* Greenm.](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:297547-2) *[Plants of the World Online](/source/Plants_of_the_World_Online)*. Retrieved 10 July 2024.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Nesom2013_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Nesom2013_2-1) Nesom, G.L. (2013). "A third species of *Mimophytum* s.str. and three new species of *Omphalodes* (Boraginaceae) from North America". *Phytoneuron*. 2013–64: 1–23.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Greenman1905_3-0)** Greenman, J.M. (1905). ["Descriptions of Spermatophytes from the Southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America"](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/335945). *Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences*. **41** (9): 233–270. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/20013502](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F20013502). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [20013502](https://www.jstor.org/stable/20013502). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [165277761](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:165277761).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-holsteinetal2016a_4-0)** Holstein, N.; Chacón, J.; Hilger, H. H.; Weigend, M. (2016). ["No longer shipwrecked—*Selkirkia* (Boraginaceae) back on the mainland with generic rearrangements in South American "*Omphalodes*" based on molecular data"](http://publication.plazi.org/id/4711FFDFFFDFFFFEF83EFFFCF802FFE8). *Phytotaxa*. **270** (4): 231–251. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2016Phytx.270..231H](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016Phytx.270..231H). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.11646/phytotaxa.270.4.1](https://doi.org/10.11646%2Fphytotaxa.270.4.1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-holsteinetal2016b_5-0)** Holstein, N.; Chacón, J.; Otero, A.; Jiménez-Mejías, P.; Weigend, M. (2016). ["Towards a monophyletic *Omphalodes*—or an expansion of North American *Mimophytum*"](http://publication.plazi.org/id/130C3746B83CFFA73A6BF950FFB5FFC2). *Phytotaxa*. **288** (2): 131–144. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2016Phytx.288..131H](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016Phytx.288..131H). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.11646/phytotaxa.288.2.3](https://doi.org/10.11646%2Fphytotaxa.288.2.3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Otero, A., Jiménez-Mejías, P., Valcárcel, V. and Vargas, P. (2019), Worldwide long-distance dispersal favored by epizoochorous traits in the biogeographic history of Omphalodeae (Boraginaceae). *Journal of Systematics and Evolution*, 57: 579-593. [https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.12504](https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.12504)

Taxon identifiers Mimophytum Wikidata: Q9033241 Wikispecies: Mimophytum CoL: 5T6R GBIF: 7295284 GRIN: 7643 iNaturalist: 272879 IPNI: 297547-2 IRMNG: 1040447 NCBI: 1616895 Open Tree of Life: 5329588 POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:297547-2 Tropicos: 40020054 WFO: wfo-4000024327

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mimophytum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimophytum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimophytum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.