Alstroemerieae is the name of a tribe of monocotyledonous, herbaceous, perennial plants belonging to the Alstroemeriaceae family. They are native to Central and South America. They have very vivid flowers, relatively large and of various colors. Because of the beauty of their flowers, they are often used as ornamental plants and, especially, as cut flowers.Sanso, A.M.; Xifreda, C.C. (2003), «Flora fanerogámica Argentina: fasciculo 85. 40b. Alstroemeriaceae», Cordoba, Argentina: ProFlora Conicet 14p.-. En Chromosome numbers, Anatomy and morphology, Keys. Geog 4. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and latest version).Xifreda, C.C.; Sanso, A.M. (1996), «Flora del valle de Lerma: Alstroemeriaceae Dumortier», Aportes Bot. Salta Ser. Flor 4 (7): 11p. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and latest version).Dimitri, M. 1987. Enciclopedia Argentina de Agricultura y Jardinería. Volume I. Descripción de plantas cultivadas. Editorial ACME S.A.C.I., Buenos Aires.

The tribe consists of around 230 species distributed in two genera: Bomarea and Alstroemeria. Until a few years ago, this family was considered part of a broad circumscription of the Liliaceae, but DNA molecular analyses and phylogenetic analyses based on both molecular data as well as morphology and anatomy, have shown that they belong to a separate family.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). «Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (Version 9, June 2008, and updated since)». Accessed on January 4, 2009.

Description Herbaceous, erect plants or supporting lianas, with sympodial rhizomes. Some of the roots are thickened and contain starch. The stem is foliose. Leaves are linear to lanceolate or oblong, rather broad in relation to other monocots, entire, narrowing towards the base, usually resupinated, that is, twisted in such a way that the upper surface during its development becomes lower at maturity.

The inflorescences are terminal and umbelliform, forming helical cymes, usually surrounded by a bract involucre, rarely reduced to a single flower.

The flowers are very bright, relatively large, hermaphrodite, trimerous, actinomorphic to slightly zygomorphic. The perigonium consists of 6 free tepals at the base, arranged in two cycles. The color of the flowers can be yellow, red, pink, orange or green, depending on the species and variety; generally with dark spots. They have nectaries at the base of two of the inner tepals. The androecium is formed by 6 stamens, arranged in two cycles, with the filaments free from each other and free from the tepals, narrow, alternating with the pieces of the perianth. The anthers are basifixed, not versatile, with introrse and longitudinal dehiscence. Microsporogenesis is successive and the tapetum is glandular. Pollen grains are sulcate, usually plano-convex and composed of two cells. The gynoecium has an inferoid, trilocular ovary with numerous anatropic ovules with axillary placentation. The fruit is a loculicidal capsule, umbonate or truncate apically, with 6 longitudinal ribs.

The seeds are round or spheroidal, with the embryo small in relation to the endosperm, at maturity with dry tegument in Alstroemeria and sarcotesta in Bomarea.

Calcium oxalate raphides are present in different organs.Harling, G.; Neuendorf, M. (2003), «0. Alstroemeriaceae», Flora of Ecuador: 3-108. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and latest version).Sanso, A.M. (1996), «El género Alstroemeria (Alstroemeriaceae) en Argentina», Darwiniana 34 (1-4): 349-382, archived from the original on March 21, 2016. Accessed on December 27, 2008.

Cytology Diploid Bomarea species have one chromosome pair more (2n=18) than Alstroemeria species (2n=16); however, they have a shorter total chromosome length. Another difference between the two genera is that Bomarea species have more symmetrical karyotypes. Karyotypic analyses on these species indicate that there are considerable karyological differences between the two genera.Sanso, A.M. & Juan H. Hunziker. 1998. Karyological Studies in Alstroemeria and Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae). Hereditas 129, 1: 67-74. DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-5223.1998.t01-1-00067.xSanso, A.M. (2002), «Chromosome studies in Andean taxa of Alstroemeria (Alstroemeriaceae)», Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 138 (4): 451-459, doi:10.1046/j.1095-8339.2002.00019.x.

Distribution Bomarea is distributed from central Mexico and the Antilles (24°N) to Argentina (29°S) and Chile (40°S).

Alstroemeria is strictly South American, with species occurring from Venezuela (3°N) to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina (53°S).

Phylogeny and taxonomy Alstroemerieae is related to Luzuriageae (a tribe with 2 genera and 5 species), native to South America (Luzuriaga) and Australia and New Zealand (Drymophila). The two tribes share vegetative characters such as being vines with resupinate leaves. Both should perhaps be combined into a single family, although APWeb still (January 2009) keeps them separate.

Colchicaceae is also related to Alstroemerieae and Luzuriageae. Some genera of Colchicaceae have twisted leaves, as do Alstroemerieae and Luzuriageae. Petermannia was included in Colchicaceae in APG (1998Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. (1998). «An ordinal classification for the families of flowering plants.». Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85: 531-553.) and APG II (2003APG II (2003). «An Update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group Classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II .» (pdf). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society (141): 399-436. Accessed on June 6, 2008. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and latest version).), although it was later determined that this genus (considered a family by APW) is also related to the three families mentioned.M. W. Chase, unpublished data, cited in Soltis et al. 2005: p.104).

The complete cladogram is given below (APW, updated to January 2009, based mainly on the analysis of Fay et al. 2006,Fay, M. F.; Chase, M. W., Ronsted, N., Devey, D. S., Pillon, Y., Pires, J. C., Petersen, G., Seberg, O., y Davis, J. I. (2006). «Phylogenetics of Liliales: summarized evidence from combined analyses of five plstid and one mitochondrial loci.». Aliso (22): 559-565. the relationships suggested by the rbcL study of Janssen and Bremer 2004Janssen, T.; Bremer, K. (2004). «The age of major monocot groups inferred from 800+ rbcL sequences.». Bot. J. Linnean Soc. 146: 385-398. are quite different, but did not include Petermanniaceae and Corsiaceae):

The genera of Alstroemeriaceae

Several revisions of Alstroemeriaceae list four genera within the family: Alstroemeria, Bomarea, Schickendantzia and Leontochir,Watson, L.; Dallwitz, M. J. «Alstroemeriaceae». The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 1st June 2007. Archived from the original on April 24, 2006. Accessed on November 4, 2008. with the addition of the genus Taltalia in 1998.Bayer, E. (1998), «Taltalia-eine neue Gattung in der Familie der Alstroemeriaceae», Sendtnera 5: 5-14. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and last version). However, the monotypic genera Schikendantzia and Taltalia have been included within Alstroemeria on the basis of detailed morphological, anatomical and chromosomal studies.Lone Aagesen & A. Mariel Sanso. 2003. The Phylogeny of the Alstroemeriaceae, Based on Morphology, rps16 Intron, and rbcL Sequence Data. Archived on February 24, 2016 on Wayback Machine. Systematic Botany Volume 28, Issue 1 pp. 47–69Sanso, A. M.; Xifreda, C. C. (2001), «Generic Delimitation between Alstroemeria and Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae)», Annals of Botany 88 (6): 1057, doi:10.1006/anbo.2001.1548.Sanso, A.M.; Xifreda, C.C. (2007), The Synonymy of Schickendantzia with Alstroemeria (Alstroemeriaceae).Xifreda, C.C.; Sanso, A.M. (1993), Kew Monocotyledons Symposium.Sanso, A.M.; Xifreda, C.C. (1998), Poster presented at Monocots II, Second International Symposium on the Comparative Biology of the Monocotyledons. Sydney. Australia. On the other hand, Leontochir ovallei, the only representative of its genus, has been shown in molecular and morphological analyses to be associated and interbred with Bomarea species, so it cannot be recognized as a separate genus. It was transferred in 2000 to Bomarea, as Bomarea ovallei.Hofreiter, A. (2006), «Leontochir: A Synonym of Bomarea (alstroemeriaceae)?», Harvard Papers in Botany 11 (1): 53-60, doi:10.3100/1043-4534(2006)11[53:LASOBA]2.0.CO;2.Ravenna, P.F. 2000. Onira 5: 45.

The exact number of species in both genera is difficult to pinpoint exactly since new species are constantly being discovered for scienceGereau, R.E. (1989), «Three new species of Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae) from Mesoamerica», Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 76 (2): 598-601, doi:10.2307/2399503, archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Accessed on December 27, 2008.F. (2005), «Three new species of Bomarea (Alstroemeriaceae) from the Andean region of Colombia», Novon 15: 253-258. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and last version)Hofreiter, A.; Rodriguez Rodriguez, E.F. (2004), «A new unusual Bomarea species in northern Peru (Alstroemeriaceae)», Arnaldoa 11 (2): 21-28. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and last version)M.C. (2004), «New Species of Alstroemeria (Alstroemeriaceae) from the Brazilian Savannas», Novon: A Journal for Botanical Nomenclature 14 (1): 17-19. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and last version).Meerow, A.W.; Tombolato, A.F.C.; Meyer, F. (1999), «Two new species of Alstroemeria L.(Alstroemeriaceae) from Brazil», Brittonia 51 (4): 439-444, doi:10.2307/2666527.M. (2000), «Novedades En La Familia Alstroemeriaceae», Gayana Bot 57 (1): 55-59.Assis, M.C. (2002), «Novas especies de Alstroemeria L», Rev. Brasil. Bot. 25 2: 177-182. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and last version) and there are also nomenclatural problems.Xifreda, C.C.; Sanso, A.M. (1992), «Bomarea stricta is a synonym of Alstroemeria isabellana (Alstroemeriaceae)», Darwiniana 31: 355-356. (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first version and last version).De Assis, M.C.; De Mello-silva, R. (2004), «Typifications and a new name in Alstroemeria L.(Alstroemeriaceae)», Taxon 53 (1): 182-184, doi:10.2307/4135510.Hofreiter, A.; Tillich, H.J. (2002), «Delimitation, infrageneric subdivision, ecology and distribution of Bomarea Mirbel (Alstroemeriaceae)», Feddes Repertorium 113 (7/8): 528-544, doi:10.1002/fedr.200290005.

Alstroemeria L., Pl. Alströmeria: 8 (1762). Includes 122 species distributed from southern Venezuela to southern South America. The following names are considered synonyms of this genus: Ligtu Adans., Fam. Pl. 2: 20 (1763). Lilavia Raf., Fl. Tellur. 4: 35 (1838). Priopetalon Raf., Fl. Tellur. 4: 34 (1838). Schickendantzia Pax, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 11: 322 (1889). Taltalia Ehr.Bayer, Sendtnera 5: 7 (1998). Bomarea Mirb., Hist. Nat. Pl. 9: 71 (1804). Includes 113 species distributed throughout tropical and subtropical America. The following genus names are considered synonyms of Bomarea: Vandesia Salisb., Trans. Hort. Soc. London 1: 332 (1812). Collania Herb., Amaryllidaceae: 103 (1837). Sphaerine Herb., Amaryllidaceae: 106 (1837). Dodecasperma Raf., Fl. Tellur. 4: 35 (1838). Wichuraea M.Roem., Nat. Syn. Fam. Monogr. 4: 177 (1847). Danbya Salisb., Gen. Pl.: 57 (1866). Leontochir Phil., Anales Univ. Chile 43: 544 (1873).

Economic and cultural importance

As food