Brodiaeoideae

{{Short description|Subfamily of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Brodiaeoideae | image = Bluedicks.jpg | image_caption = ''Dichelostemma capitatum'' | range_map = Map-Themidaceae.PNG | range_map_caption = Distribution | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = 12 genera (see text) }}

'''Brodiaeoideae''' are a monocot subfamily of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, order Asparagales.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asparagales |url=https://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/orders/asparagalesweb.htm |access-date=2026-01-25 |website=www.mobot.org}}</ref> They have been treated as a separate family, '''Themidaceae'''.<ref name="crf2009">{{cite journal|last1=Chase |first1=M.W.|last2=Reveal |first2=J.L. |last3=Fay |first3=M.F. |year=2009 |title=A subfamilial classification for the expanded asparagalean families Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae and Xanthorrhoeaceae |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=161 |issue=2 |pages=132–136|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00999.x|doi-access=free }}</ref> They are native to Central America and western North America, from British Columbia to Guatemala.<ref name="seberg2007">Ole Seberg. 2007. "Themidaceae" page 404. In: Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada.</ref> The name of the subfamily is based on the type genus ''Brodiaea''.

In molecular phylogenetic analyses, Brodiaeoideae is strongly supported as monophyletic. It is probably sister to Scilloideae.<ref name="pires2006">{{cite journal | last1=Pires | first1=Chris | last2=Maureira | first2=Ivan | last3=Givnish | first3=Thomas | last4=Systma | first4=Kenneth | last5=Seberg | first5=Ole | last6=Peterson | first6=Gitte | last7=Davis | first7=Jerrold | last8=Stevenson | first8=Dennis | last9=Rudall | first9=Paula | last10=Fay | first10=Michael | last11=Chase | first11=Mark | title=Phylogeny, Genome Size, and Chromosome Evolution of Asparagales | journal=Aliso | date=2006 | volume=22 | pages=287–304 | doi=10.5642/aliso.20062201.24 |url=https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1574&context=aliso}}</ref> Recent treatments have divided Brodiaeoideae (or Themidaceae) into 12 genera.<ref name="rahn1998">Knud Rahn. 1998. "Themidaceae" pages 436-441. In: Klaus Kubitzki (general editor) with Klaus Kubitzki, Herbert F.J. Huber, Paula J. Rudall, Peter F. Stevens, and Thomas Stützel (volume editors). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume III. Springer-Verlag: Berlin;Heidelberg, Germany. {{ISBN|978-3-540-64060-8}}</ref> The monophyly of several of the genera remains in doubt.<ref name="pires2001">{{cite journal | last1 = Pires | first1 = J. Chris | last2 = Fay | first2 = Michael F. | last3 = Davis | first3 = Warren S. | last4 = Hufford | first4 = Larry | last5 = Rova | first5 = Johan | last6 = Chase | first6 = Mark W. | last7 = Sytsma | first7 = Kenneth J. | year = 2001 | title = Molecular and morphological phylogenetic analyses of Themidaceae (Asparagales) | journal = Kew Bulletin | volume = 56 | issue = 3| pages = 601–626 | doi=10.2307/4117686| jstor = 4117686 | bibcode = 2001KewBu..56..601P }}</ref> As currently circumscribed, the largest genera are ''Triteleia'', with 15 species, and ''Brodiaea'', with 14.<ref name="fna2002">Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 2002. ''Flora of North America'' volume 26:321-347. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-515208-1}}. see ''External links'' below.</ref> Nine of the 12 genera are known in cultivation, but only species of ''Brodiaea'' and ''Triteleia'' are commonly grown.<ref name="rhs">Anthony Huxley, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (1992). ''The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening''. The Macmillan Press, Limited: London. The Stockton Press: New York. {{ISBN|978-0-333-47494-5}} (set).</ref>

==Description== The following description is derived from two sources.<ref name="rahn1998"/><ref name="takhtajan2009">Armen L. Takhtajan (Takhtadzhian). ''Flowering Plants'' second edition (2009). Springer Science+Business Media. {{ISBN|978-1-4020-9608-2}}.</ref>

Perennial herbs arising from a starchy corm; a new corm arising each year from the old one.

Leaves linear, often fleshy, forming a closed sheath at their base. Veins parallel.

Inflorescence an umbel, or rarely a single flower, at the apex of a solitary scape. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic. Tepals all similar, in 2 whorls of 3.

Fertile stamens 6, or 3 and alternating with 3 staminodes. Stamens and staminodes inserted on tepals. Anthers basifixed and introrse.

Ovary superior and trilocular.

Fruit a loculicidal capsule. Seed covered with phytomelan.

==History== For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, when the group was recognized at all, it was usually at tribal rank and usually called Brodiaeeae. Most authors assigned it to Liliaceae, Alliaceae, or Amaryllidaceae. In 1985, Dahlgren, Clifford, and Yeo treated it as tribe Brodiaeeae of Alliaceae.<ref name="dahlgren1985">Rolf M.T. Dahlgren, H. Trevor Clifford, and Peter F. Yeo. 1985. ''The Families of the Monocotyledons''. Springer-Verlag: Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, Tokyo. {{ISBN|978-3-540-13655-2}}. {{ISBN|978-0-387-13655-4}}.</ref>

Toward the end of the 20th century, it became increasingly evident that the heterogeneous Liliaceae recognized by most authors was several times polyphyletic and that ''Brodiaea'' and its relatives were closer to Asparagus than to ''Allium'' or ''Amaryllis''. For these reasons, the family Themidaceae was resurrected in an article in Taxon in 1996.<ref name="fay1996">{{cite journal | last1=Fay | first1=Michael F. | last2=Chase | first2=Mark W. | title=Resurrection of Themidaceae for the Brodiaea alliance, and Recircumscription of Alliaceae, Amaryllidaceae and Agapanthoideae | journal=Taxon | date=1996 | volume=45 | issue=3 | pages=441–451 | doi=10.2307/1224136 | jstor=1224136 | bibcode=1996Taxon..45..441F }}</ref> The name 'Themidaceae' was first used by Richard Salisbury in 1866.<ref name="salisbury1866">Richard Salisbury. 1866. ''The Genera of Plants. A Fragment Containing Part of Liriogamae'':84. John van Voorst: Paternoster Row, London, England. (see ''External links'' below).</ref> The name was based on the now-defunct genus ''Themis'', which was established by Salisbury along with the family. The only species ever assigned to ''Themis'' was ''Themis ixioides''. Its name was changed to ''Brodiaea ixioides'' by Sereno Watson in 1879,<ref name="watson1879">{{cite journal | last1=Watson | first1=Sereno | title=Contributions to American Botany: Revision of the North American Liliaceæ; Descriptions of Some New Species of North American Plants | journal=Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences | date=1878 | volume=14 | pages=213–303 | doi=10.2307/25138538 |doi-access=free | jstor=25138538 |jstor-access=free}}</ref> then to ''Triteleia ixioides'' by Edward Lee Greene in 1886.<ref name="greene1886">Edward Lee Greene. 1886. "Some Genera Which have been Confused Under the Name ''Brodiaea''". In: ''Bulletin of the California Academy of Sciences'' '''2'''(6):142. (see ''External links'' below).</ref> It is known as ''Triteleia ixioides'' in Flora of North America.<ref>''Triteleia ixioides'' in Flora of North America @ efloras.org. (n.d.). Retrieved June 18, 2024, from http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242102031</ref>

When the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group published the APG II system in 2003, Themidaceae was treated as an optional circumscription for those who thought that Asparagaceae sensu lato should be divided into smaller segregate families. When the APG III system was published in 2009, Themidaceae was not accepted. In an accompanying article, it was treated as Brodiaeoideae, one of 7 subfamilies in Asparagaceae.<ref name="crf2009"/>

==Genera== 11 genera were included in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website {{as of|2016|May|lc=yes}}. Since then, two additional genera, ''Dipterostemon'' and ''Xochiquetzallia'', have been recognized.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gutiérrez |first1=Jorge |last2=Terrazas |first2=Teresa |date=2020 |title=Xochiquetzallia (Asparagaceae, Brodiaeoideae), a new genus segregated from the paraphyletic Dandya |journal=PhytoKeys |issue=139 |pages=39–49 |doi=10.3897/phytokeys.139.46890 |doi-access=free |issn=1314-2011 |pmc=6997253 |pmid=32042249 |bibcode=2020PhytK.139...39G }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Preston |first=Robert E. |date=2017|title=Vernal Pool Blue Dicks (''Dichelostemma lacuna-vernalis''; Asparagaceae: Brodiaeoideae) Revisited |url=https://doi.org/10.3120/0024-9637-61.4.350 |journal=Madroño |volume=61 |issue=4 |pages=350–366 |doi=10.3120/0024-9637-61.4.350 |issn=0024-9637|url-access=subscription }}</ref> As of 2026, Brodiaeoideae consists of the following 13 genera:

* ''Androstephium'' Torr. * ''Bessera'' Schult.f. (including ''Behria'') * ''Bloomeria'' Kellogg * ''Brodiaea'' Sm. * ''Dandya'' H.E.Moore * ''Dichelostemma'' Kunth (including ''Brevoortia'', ''Stropholirion'') * ''Dipterostemon'' {{small|Rydb.}} * ''Milla'' Cav. (including ''Diphalangium'') * ''Muilla'' S.Watson ex Benth. * ''Petronymphe'' H.E.Moore * ''Triteleia'' Douglas ex Lindl. (including ''Hesperoscordium'', ''Themis'') * ''Triteleiopsis'' Hoover * ''Xochiquetzallia'' J.Gut

==References== {{Reflist}}

== Bibliography == {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal|last1=Pires|first1=J. C.|last2=Sytsma|first2=K. J.|title=A phylogenetic evaluation of a biosystematic framework: ''Brodiaea'' and related petaloid monocots (Themidaceae)|journal=American Journal of Botany|date=1 August 2002|volume=89|issue=8|pages=1342–1359|doi=10.3732/ajb.89.8.1342|pmid=21665737}} {{refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Brodiaeoideae}} * [http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/orders/asparagalesweb.htm#Themidaceae Brodiaeoideae] At: [http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/welcome.html Angiosperm Phylogeny Website] At: [http://www.mobot.org Missouri Botanical Garden Website] * [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=10507 Liliaceae] At: [http://www.efloras.org/flora_page.aspx?flora_id=1 Flora of North America] At: [http://www.efloras.org/index.aspx eFloras] * [https://books.google.com/books?id=wU4DAAAAQAAJ&q=The+Genera+of+Plants.+A+fragment+containing A fragment containing Liriogamae] At: [https://books.google.com/books?sici=0040-0262(199608)45%3A3%3C441%3AROTFTB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M#abstract Resurrection of Themidaceae] * [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Tree&id=158486&lvl=3&lin=f&keep=1&srchmode=1&unlock NCBI Taxonomy Browser]

Category:Brodiaeoideae Category:Asparagales subfamilies