Marcgravia is a genus of plants in the family Marcgraviaceae native to the region spanning from Mexico to tropical South America. It is commonly eaten by the dwarf little fruit bat. The genus is named in memory of the German naturalist Georg Marcgraf. The plant is visited by Thomas's nectar bat.

Description

Vegetative characteristics Marcgravia are vines or climbing shrubs. Marcgravia is classified as a sub-parasitical shrub. The branches are dimorphic. The sterile branches creep or climb. The pendulous fertile branches are terete and do not bear roots.Dressler, S. (2004). Marcgraviaceae. In: Kubitzki, K. (eds) Flowering Plants · Dicotyledons. The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, vol 6. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. Generative characteristics The terminal, umbelliform, partly sterile inflorescence is composed of a ring of fertile flowers, as well as a number of nectaries derived from bracts, which are fused with sterile flowers. The fertile flowers have four sepals and four petals. Cytology The chromosome count is 2n = 36, 38, 62–64.Schneider, J. V., Paule, J., Gitai, J., Dressler, S., Gusmão, C. L. S., & Benko-Iseppon, A. M. (2015). Divergent genome sizes reflect the infrafamilial subdivision of the Neotropical woody Marcgraviaceae. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 177(1), 1-14.

Taxonomy It was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 with Marcgravia umbellata as the type species.Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-b). Marcgravia L. Tropicos. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://www.tropicos.org/name/40013713Linné, Carl von, & Salvius, Lars. (1753). Caroli Linnaei ... Species plantarum :exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas... (Vol. 1, p. 503). Impensis Laurentii Salvii. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358522 Etymology The genus name Marcgravia honours the German naturalist and astronomer Georg Markgraf.Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Marcgravia. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/MarcgraviaWillem Piso and Georg Marggraf’s “Historia naturalis Brasiliae” (1648). (n.d.). University of Oxford. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk/willem-piso-and-georg-marggrafs-historia-naturalis-brasiliae-1648 Species

Marcgravia acuminata Marcgravia affinis Marcgravia ampulligera Marcgravia angustifolia Marcgravia atropunctata Marcgravia brachysepala Marcgravia brittoniana Marcgravia brownei Marcgravia cacabifera Marcgravia calcicola Marcgravia caudata Marcgravia comosa Marcgravia cordachida Marcgravia cordachidia Marcgravia coriacea Marcgravia corumbensis Marcgravia crassicostata Marcgravia crassiflora Marcgravia crenata Marcgravia cuneifolia Marcgravia cuspidata Marcgravia cuyuniensis Marcgravia cyrtogastra Marcgravia cyrtonota Marcgravia dasyantha Marcgravia domingensis Marcgravia dressleri Marcgravia dubia Marcgravia eichleriana Marcgravia elegans Marcgravia evenia Marcgravia flagellaris Marcgravia fosbergiana Marcgravia gentlei Marcgravia goudotiana Marcgravia gracilis Marcgravia grandifolia Marcgravia guatemalensis Marcgravia hartii Marcgravia helverseniana Marcgravia leticiana Marcgravia lineolata Marcgravia longifolia Marcgravia macrocalyptra Marcgravia macrocarpa Marcgravia macrophylla Marcgravia magnibracteata Marcgravia maguirei Marcgravia membranacea Marcgravia mexicana Marcgravia micrantha Marcgravia monogyna Marcgravia myriostigma Marcgravia nepenthoides Marcgravia nervosa Marcgravia neurophylla Marcgravia nubicola Marcgravia oblongifolia Marcgravia obovata Marcgravia octandra Marcgravia oligandra Marcgravia panamensis Marcgravia paradoxa Marcgravia parviflora Marcgravia patellulifera Marcgravia peduncularis Marcgravia pedunculosa Marcgravia pentandra Marcgravia picta Marcgravia pittieri Marcgravia polyadenia Marcgravia polyantha Marcgravia punctifolia Marcgravia purpurea Marcgravia rectiflora Marcgravia roonii Marcgravia roraimae Marcgravia roraimensis Marcgravia rubra Marcgravia salicifolia Marcgravia schippii Marcgravia serrae Marcgravia sintenisii Marcgravia sororopaniana Marcgravia spiciflora Marcgravia sprucei Marcgravia stenonectaria Marcgravia steyermarkii Marcgravia stonei Marcgravia strenua Marcgravia subcaudata Marcgravia subcordata Marcgravia tobagensis Marcgravia tonduzii Marcgravia trianae Marcgravia trinitatis Marcgravia umbellata Marcgravia urophylla Marcgravia waferi Marcgravia weberbaueri Marcgravia williamsii Marcgravia wittmackiana Marcgravia wrightii Marcgravia yukunarum Marcgravia zonopunctata

Distribution It is native to Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Central American Pacific Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, and to the Windward Islands.Marcgravia L. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved July 23, 2025, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:39074-1

Ecology The flowers are bat-pollinated.Tschapka, M., Dressler, S., & von Helversen, O. (2006). Bat visits to Marcgravia pittieri and notes on the inflorescence diversity within the genus Marcgravia (Marcgraviaceae). Flora-Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants, 201(5), 383-388.

Use In Ecuador and Peru the fruits are used as food and the sap is used as a drink.Christenhusz, M. J. M., Fay, M. F., Chase, M. W. (2017). Plants of the World: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Vascular Plants. p. 481. United Kingdom: University of Chicago Press.

References

PPP species list NCBI