Themes: predatory, tubicolous priapulid worm; fossil.
Region: South American mainland; Robinson Crusoe Island.
Genus: 4 species.
Culture: endangered.
BotanyShrub; perennial.
Leaves: ovate to lanceolate; along the stem.
Flower: corolla is white.
Fruit: consist of four nutlets, beset with barbed glochids; somewhat winged; seemingly attached to the style but in fact on a pyramidal gynobase.
TaxonomySelkirkia trianae is a species in the undergrowth of dense, primary cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador.
Boraginaceae systematics relied strongly on fruit morphology, so all four species were initially thought to belong to Cynoglossum, where the four nutlets typically are beset with barbed glochidia. However, fruit morphology turned out to be unreliable for classification.