If you’ve ever come across a plant with velvety leaves and bright purple flowers that look almost unreal, there’s a good chance it belonged to the Pleroma family. This group of plants comes from warm, tropical parts of the Americas—from Puerto Rico all the way down to Brazil and beyond—where they grow in all sorts of places: forests, riverbanks, rocky hillsides, and even high mountain grasslands.
Pleroma plants can be anything from small shrubs to full trees, but they’re almost always easy to recognize. Their leaves usually grow in neat opposite pairs, and their flowers, often purple or lilac, appear in loose, branching clusters. The blooms have a soft, fuzzy base and a simple, elegant shape that makes them stand out in any garden. Even their seed capsules are interesting—packed tightly with tiny, spiral-shaped seeds that inspired the genus name, taken from a Greek word meaning “fullness.”
如果你曾經看過一種葉片如天鵝絨般柔軟、開著鮮亮紫色花朵，美得近乎夢幻的植物，那麼它很可能屬於光榮樹屬（Pleroma）。這類植物原產於美洲溫暖的熱帶地區——從波多黎各一直延伸到巴西及更遠的地方——它們生長在各種各樣的環境中：森林、河岸、岩石山坡，甚至高山草原。
光榮樹屬植物的形態各異，從小型灌木到喬木都有，但它們幾乎都很容易辨認。它們的葉子通常整齊地對生，花朵多為紫色或淡紫色，呈疏鬆的簇狀花序。花朵基部柔軟蓬鬆，造型簡潔優雅，使其在任何花園中都格外引人注目。就連它們的種子莢也別具特色——裡面緊密地包裹著細小的螺旋狀種子，而這正是該屬名的由來，其源自希臘語，意為「豐盈」「飽滿」。
Pleroma heteromalla 銀絨野牡丹
Pleroma heteromallum, with synonyms including Tibouchina grandifolia and Tibouchina heteromalla, is known by the common name silverleafed princess flower in English. It is native to French Guiana, Bolivia, and Brazil. This tropical shrub grows 4–6 ft tall and features seven-veined, broad ovate-cordate leaves (up to 6 in long) that are silky above, as well as clusters of five-petaled, purple-violet flowers borne in panicles. It blooms in summer. The plant is cultivated as an ornamental for its showy foliage and purple flowers. It is sensitive to cold but can tolerate a light frost.
銀絨野牡丹，異名包括銀毛蒂牡丹（Tibouchina grandifolia）和銀葉野牡丹（Tibouchina heteromalla），英文俗名是銀葉公主花。它原產於法屬圭亞那、玻利維亞和巴西。這種熱帶灌木株高 1.2-1.8 公尺，葉片寬卵形至心形，有七條葉脈（長達 15 公分），葉片上表面覆有絲狀物。花朵為五瓣紫羅蘭色，簇生於圓錐花序。夏季開花。銀絨野牡丹因其艷麗的葉片和紫色的花朵而被廣泛栽培為觀賞植物。它不耐寒，但能耐受輕微霜凍。
Pleroma urvilleana 豔紫野牡丹
Pleroma urvilleanum, synonym Tibouchina urvilleana, is native to Brazil. Common names include glory bush, princess flower, purple glory tree, lasiandra, and pleroma. It is a sprawling evergreen shrub with dark green, hairy leaves that have pronounced longitudinal veins. Clusters of brilliant purple flowers, up to 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and bearing contrasting dark (often blackish) stamens, appear throughout summer and autumn. The species has received the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
豔紫野牡丹（異名：Tibouchina urvilleana）原產於巴西。俗名包括榮耀灌木、公主花、紫榮耀樹、拉西安德拉和紫菀、蒂牡花、紫花野牡丹 或 蒂牡丹。它是一種蔓生常綠灌木，葉片深綠色，被毛，具有明顯的縱向葉脈。整個夏秋兩季，會開出簇簇艷麗的紫色花朵，直徑可達 10 公分（4 吋），花蕊呈現深色（通常為黑色），與花朵形成鮮明對比。它曾榮獲英國皇家園藝學會花園優異獎。
Notes 筆記
- Pleroma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Melastomataceae, native from Puerto Rico and the Leeward Islands to tropical South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, and Venezuela). They are found in forests and forest margins, along riverbanks, in high-altitude grasslands, rocky outcrops, and restingas, from sea level up to elevations of 2,650 m.
- The genus Pleroma was established by David Don in 1822. He derived the name from the Ancient Greek πλήρωμα (pleroma), meaning “fullness,” referring to the way the seeds fill the capsule.
- Species of Pleroma are subshrubs, shrubs, or trees. Their leaves are almost always opposite and petiolate, rarely sessile. The inflorescence is a terminal panicle or a modification of one. The flowers are perigynous, with a bell- or urn-shaped hypanthium (the base of the flower), usually externally covered with short, soft hairs (pubescent). They usually have five petals (sometimes four), purple to lilac in color, and rarely white. The numerous seeds are contained in a dry, semi-woody capsule and are spiral in shape, sometimes elongated.
- 光榮樹屬是野牡丹科下的一個開花植物屬，原產於波多黎各和背風群島 (Leeward Islands) 至熱帶南美洲（玻利維亞、巴西、哥倫比亞、厄瓜多爾、法屬圭亞那、秘魯和委內瑞拉）。它們生長於森林和林緣、河岸、高海拔草原、岩石露頭和沙丘地帶，海拔從海平面到 2650 公尺不等。
- 野牡丹屬是由 David Don 於 1822 年建立的。他從古希臘語 πλήρωμα（pleroma）中得到該屬名，意思是「飽滿」，指的是種子充滿蒴果的方式。
- 野牡丹屬植物為亞灌木、灌木或喬木。其葉片幾乎總是對生且具柄，極少無柄。花序為頂生圓錐花序或其變型。花為周位花，花托（花的基部）呈鐘形或甕形，通常外部有短而柔軟的毛（被柔毛）。花瓣通常為五瓣（有時為四瓣），顏色為紫色至淡紫色，極少為白色。種子眾多，包裹在乾燥的半木質蒴果中，呈螺旋狀，有時呈長橢圓形。
References 參考資料
- Wikipedia: Pleroma (plant)
- Wikipedia: Pleroma heteromallum
- Wikipedia: Pleroma urvilleanum
Plants Posts 植物的帖子
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