Scalesia
Sign in to saveScalesia is a genus in the family Asteraceae endemic to the Galapagos Islands. It contains fifteen species that grow as shrubs or trees. This is unusual, because tree species are uncommon in Asteraceae. The genus Scalesia resulted from a blunder by Arnott who named it in honour of "W. Scales Esq., Cawdor Castle, Elginshire" but discovered after publication that the name should have read 'Stables', after Scottish botanist, William Alexander Stables (1810–1890).
Species
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderAsterales
- FamilyAsteraceae
Native toGalápagos
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Heliantheae
- Image
- Scalesia pedunculata.jpg
Show 2 more facts
- P105
- genus
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Article
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Scalesia is a genus in the family Asteraceae endemic to the Galapagos Islands. It contains fifteen species that grow as shrubs or trees. This is unusual, because tree species are uncommon in Asteraceae. The genus Scalesia resulted from a blunder by Arnott who named it in honour of "W. Scales Esq., Cawdor Castle, Elginshire" but discovered after publication that the name should have read 'Stables', after Scottish botanist, William Alexander Stables (1810–1890).
All of the species have soft, pithy wood. Scalesia species have been called "the Darwin's finches of the plant world" because they show a similarly dramatic pattern of adaptive radiation.