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