The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules and sympetalous actinomorphic flowers. The family contains about 13,500 species in about 620 genera, which makes it the fourth-largest angiosperm family. Rubiaceae has a cosmopolitan distribution; however, the largest species diversity is concentrated in the tropics and subtropics. Economically important genera include Coffea, the source of coffee, Cinchona, the source of the antimalarial alkaloid quinine, some dye plants, and ornamental cultivars.
Bullockia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was originally described as a subgenus of Canthium. The genus is distributed in eastern and southern Africa from Ethiopia to Transvaal, as well as Madagascar in bushland, woodland, savannas, and dry, deciduous forests.
Canthium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny.
Afrocanthium keniense is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Kenya. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Keetia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It consists of climbers or scrambling shrubs, rarely small trees.
Kraussia is a flowering plant genus in the family Rubiaceae. Apart from a species in Socotra, they are native to continental Africa. The type was described from a plant collected by Dr. F. Krauss near Durban. It is differentiated from Tricalysia and Empogona by the ovule arrangement inside the ovary cells. The genus contains between 4 and 10 species, including:
Lagynias was a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae but is no longer recognized. In 2005, it was sunk into synonymy with Vangueria, based on a phylogenetic study of DNA sequences.
Multidentia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae.
Psydrax is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It consists of trees, shrubs, and a few lianas in the paleotropics.
Vangueria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is named for Voa vanguer, as V. madagascariensis is known in Malagasy.
Vangueriopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae.
Vanguerieae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 655 species in 30 genera. It is one of the most species-rich groups within the family and it is distributed all over the Paleotropics.
Plectroniella is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was described by Walter Robyns in 1928. The genus contains only one species, i.e. Plectroniella armata, which is found in southern Mozambique and northeastern South Africa. The species is characterized by the presence of large spines and is morphologically similar to Canthium. In 2004, a molecular phylogenetic study showed that Plectroniella armata is related to Canthium ciliatum and the transfer of the genus to Canthium was suggested.
Meyna is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae.
Fadogiella is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was described by Walter Robyns in 1928.
Ancylanthos was a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae but is no longer recognized. It was originally described by René Louiche Desfontaines in 1818. In 2005, it was sunk into synonymy with Vangueria, based on a phylogenetic study of DNA sequences.
Vangueriella is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is found in tropical Africa.
Kraussia floribunda is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It ranges from Mozambique and Swaziland to eastern South Africa, and is associated with the Tongoland-Pondoland regional mosaic. The type was described from a plant collected by Dr. F. Krauss near Durban.
Diane Mary Bridson is a British botanist.
