Camonea is a genus of flowering plants in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae, placed in the order Solanales. The genus was described by the botanist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1836 (Flora Telluriana). Its current circumscription is largely the result of a taxonomic revision by A.R. Simões and G.W. Staples, who transferred several species previously classified in other Convolvulaceae genera into Camonea, publishing new combinations for species such as Camonea bambusetorum, C. kingii, C. pilosa, C. umbellata, and C. vitifolia (their basionyms had originally been described by authors including Linnaeus, Houttuyn, Burman the Younger, Prain, and Kerr).
Camonea is pantropical in distribution, occurring naturally across the tropics and subtropics of both the Old and New World. Records compiled from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants place the genus throughout tropical Asia (from India and the Himalaya through Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina, southern China, and the Malesian islands to New Guinea and the Philippines), Africa (West Africa, East Africa, and the western Indian Ocean islands of Comoros, Mauritius, Réunion, and the Seychelles), northern Australia, numerous Pacific islands (Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia, Hawaii, and others), and across the American tropics from Mexico and Central America through the Caribbean to South America as far south as Argentina and Paraguay.
Distribution
Camonea has a pantropical distribution across the tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres. It is recorded from tropical and subtropical Asia (India, the Himalaya, Indochina, southern China, and Malesia), Africa and the western Indian Ocean islands, northern Australia, numerous Pacific islands, and the American tropics from Mexico and the Caribbean south to Argentina and Paraguay.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus Camonea was published by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1836 (Flora Telluriana 4: 81). Its currently accepted species were transferred into the genus as new combinations by A.R. Simões and G.W. Staples, drawing on species originally described in other genera by authors such as Linnaeus, Houttuyn, Burman the Younger, Prain, and Kerr.
