The genus
Tibouchina was established by
Aublet in 1775 in his Flora of French Guiana with the description of a single species,
T. aspera, which is thus the type species. In 1885, in his treatment for
Flora brasiliensis,
Alfred Cogniaux used a broad concept of the genus, transferring into it many of the species at that time placed in
Chaetogastra,
Diplostegium,
Lasiandra,
Pleroma and
Purpurella, among others. This broad concept was generally adopted subsequently, and around 470 taxa were at one time or another assigned to
Tibouchina. A further
molecular phylogenetic study in 2019 used the same molecular markers but included more species. It reached the same conclusion: the original broadly circumscribed
Tibouchina consisted of four
monophyletic clades. The authors proposed a split into four genera: a more narrowly circumscribed
Tibouchina, two re-established genera
Pleroma and
Chaetogastra, and a new genus,
Andesanthus. The relationship between
Chaetogastra and the genus
Brachyotum differed between a
maximum likelihood analysis and a
Bayesian inference analysis: the former found
Brachyotum embedded within
Chaetogastra, the latter found the two to be sisters. The part of their maximum likelihood
cladogram which includes former
Tibouchina species is as follows, •
Tibouchina aegopogon (Naudin) Cogn. •
Tibouchina albescens Cogn. ex P.J.F.Guim., A.L.F.Oliveira & R.Romero •
Tibouchina alpestris Cogn. •
Tibouchina araguaiensis P.J.F.Guim. •
Tibouchina aspera Aubl. •
Tibouchina barbigera (Naudin) Baill. •
Tibouchina bicolor (Naudin) Cogn. •
Tibouchina bipenicillata (Naudin) Cogn. •
Tibouchina brevisepala Cogn. •
Tibouchina bruniana P.J.F.Guim. •
Tibouchina caatingae J.G.Freitas •
Tibouchina calycina Cogn. •
Tibouchina catharinae Pittier •
Tibouchina cujabensis Cogn. •
Tibouchina dissitiflora Wurdack •
Tibouchina duidae Gleason •
Tibouchina edmundoi Brade •
Tibouchina exasperata (Naudin) Cogn. •
Tibouchina fraterna N.E.Br. •
Tibouchina huberi Wurdack •
Tibouchina itatiaiae Cogn. •
Tibouchina johnwurdackiana Todzia •
Tibouchina karstenii Cogn. •
Tibouchina lithophila Wurdack •
Tibouchina lepidota P.J.F.Guim. & Michelang. •
Tibouchina llanorum Wurdack •
Tibouchina mathaei Cogn. •
Tibouchina melastomoides (Naudin) Cogn. •
Tibouchina nigricans Cogn. ex P.J.F.Guim., A.L.F.Oliveira & R.Romero •
Tibouchina octopetala Cogn. •
Tibouchina papyrus (Pohl) Toledo •
Tibouchina pogonanthera (Naudin) Cogn. •
Tibouchina rosanae P.J.F.Guim. & Woodgyer •
Tibouchina sickii Brade •
Tibouchina sipapoana Gleason •
Tibouchina spruceana Cogn. •
Tibouchina steyermarkii Wurdack •
Tibouchina striphnocalyx (DC.) Pittier •
Tibouchina verticillaris Cogn. •
Tibouchina xochiatencana de Santiago
Selected former species Species placed in
Tibouchina in its former broad sense include: •
Tibouchina anderssonii Wurdack, synonym of
Chaetogastra anderssonii •
Tibouchina asperior (Cham.) Cogn., synonym of
Pleroma asperius •
Tibouchina campii Wurdack, synonym of
Chaetogastra campii •
Tibouchina ciliaris (Vent.) Cogn., synonym of
Chaetogastra ciliaris •
Tibouchina clinopodifolia (DC.) Cogn., synonym of
Chaetogastra clinopodifolia •
Tibouchina elegans Cogn., synonym of
Pleroma elegans •
Tibouchina francavillana Cogn., synonym of
Pleroma francavillanum •
Tibouchina gleasoniana Wurdack, synonym of
Andesanthus gleasonianus •
Tibouchina granulosa, synonym of
Pleroma granulosum •
Tibouchina gracilis (Bonpl.) Cogn., synonym of
Chaetogastra gracilis •
Tibouchina grossa, synonym of
Chaetogastra grossa •
Tibouchina heteromalla, synonym of
Pleroma heteromallum - silver-leaved princess flower •
Tibouchina lepidota (Bonpl.) Baill., synonym of
Andesanthus lepidotus •
Tibouchina mollis (Bonpl.) Bonpl., synonym of
Chaetogastra mollis •
Tibouchina mutabilis (Vell.) Cogn., synonym of
Pleroma mutabile •
Tibouchina oroensis Gleason, synonym of
Chaetogastra oroensis •
Tibouchina pereirae Brade & Markgr., synonym of
Pleroma pereirae •
Tibouchina pulchra (Cham.) Cogn., synonym of
Pleroma raddianum •
Tibouchina rufipilis (Schltdl.) Cogn., synonym of
Chaetogastra rufipilis •
Tibouchina semidecandra, synonym of
Pleroma semidecandrum •
Tibouchina trichopoda (DC.) Baill., synonym of
Pleroma trichopodum •
Tibouchina urvilleana, synonym of
Pleroma urvilleanum - princess flower, glory bush •
Tibouchina versicolor (Lindl.) Cogn., synonym of
Chaetogastra versicolor == Distribution and invasive potential ==