Cliviinae

Cliviinae
File:Clivia Nobilis.TIF
Clivia nobilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Amaryllidoideae
Tribe:	Haemantheae
Tribe:	Cliviinae D. & U. M.-D.
Type genus
Clivia Lindl.
Genera
Clivia Cryptostephanus
Synonyms
Clivieae Traub

Cliviinae is a small subtribe of Haemantheae, and therefore within the African clades of Amaryllidoideae. It consists of two genera, Clivia, and Cryptostephanus.

Description

File:Cryptostephanus vansonii2.jpg

Cryptostephanus vansonii in Zimbabwe

Bulbless rhizomatous perennial plants. Clivia has showy orange or yellow flowers, while Cryptostephanus has smaller flowers with a paraperigone that had them erroneously classified with Narcissus in the past. it is also the only Haemantheae genus with a phytomelanous seed testa.

Taxonomy

For the early taxonomic history of these two genera, see Meerow and Clayton (2004). (Traub described this grouping as tribe Clivieae in his 1963 monograph on the Amaryllidaceae, based on the type genus Clivia. . Subsequently the Müller-Doblies' reduced it to a subtribe and placed it within the Haemantheae. Later molecular phylogenetic research has confirmed this placement, with Cliviinae being one of three subtribes of Haemantheae.

Phylogeny

The Cliviinae are placed within the Haemantheae as follows:

Tribe Haemantheae	Subtribe Cliviinae Subtribe Haemanthineae Subtribe Gethyllidinae

Subdivision

• Clivia (5 species)
• Cryptostephanus (2 species)

Distribution and habitat

Clivia is found in summer rainfall regions, as herbaceous understory plants of coastal and Afro-montane forest, while Cryptostephanus are plants of savanna or forest habitats.

Ecology

Butterfly and sunbird pollination.