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.
Gentianales is an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid clade of eudicots. It comprises more than 20,000 species in about 1,200 genera in 5 families. More than 80% of the species in this order belong to the family Rubiaceae.
The whistling ducks or tree ducks are a subfamily, Dendrocygninae, of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae. In other taxonomic schemes, they are considered a separate family, Dendrocygnidae. Some taxonomists list only one genus, Dendrocygna, which contains eight living species, and one undescribed extinct species from Aitutaki of the Cook Islands, but other taxonomists also list the white-backed duck under the subfamily.
Oldenlandia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is pantropical in distribution and has about 240 species. The type species for the genus is Oldenlandia corymbosa.
The Surat helmeted bat is a species of vesper bat. It ranges from Thailand and Laos west to Nepal.
Schippia concolor, the mountain pimento or silver pimeto, is a medium-sized palm species that is native to Belize and Guatemala. Named for its discoverer, Australian botanist William A. Schipp, the species is threatened by habitat loss. It is the sole species in the genus Schippia.
Blepharidium is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus contains only one species, viz. Blepharidium guatemalense, which is native to Guatemala, Honduras and southern Mexico. Older works might mention two species.
Guettarda is a plant genus in the family Rubiaceae. Most of these plants are known by the common name Velvetseed. Estimates of the number of species range from about 50 to 162. Most of the species are neotropical. Twenty are found in New Caledonia and one reaches Australia. A few others are found on islands and in coastal areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Lasianthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. They are tropical subshrubs, shrubs, or rarely, small trees. They inhabit the understory of primary forests. None of them are known to have any use.
Rondeletia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to the Neotropics. There are around 160 species.
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.
Paludomidae, common name paludomids, is a family of freshwater snails, gastropod molluscs in the clade Sorbeoconcha.
Kadua is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises 29 species, all restricted to Polynesia. Twenty-two of these are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Some of the species are common at high elevation. Others are single-island endemics or very rare, and a few are probably extinct. Kadua affinis is widely distributed in Hawaii and is polymorphic. The type species for the genus is Kadua acuminata.
Razafimandimbisonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Madagascar.
Hymenodictyeae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 25 species in two genera. The representatives of the genus Hymenodictyon are found in tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar, to tropical Asia and China (Yunnan). The two species of Paracorynanthe are restricted to Madagascar.
Alberteae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 18 species in 3 genera. Its representatives are found in tropical and southern Africa and in Madagascar.
Ixoroideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 4000 species in 27 tribes.
Coffeeae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 303 species in 11 genera. Its representatives are found in tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar, the western Indian Ocean, tropical and subtropical Asia, and Queensland.
Sabiceeae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 164 species in 7 genera. Its representatives are found in tropical Africa, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and from Mexico to tropical America. The genus Sabicea is one of the rare genera in Rubiaceae that occurs both in tropical Africa and tropical America.
Dr. Charlotte M. Taylor is a botanist and professor specialising in taxonomy and conservation. She works with the large plant family Rubiaceae, particularly found in the American tropics and in the tribes Palicoureeae and Psychotrieae. This plant family is an economically important group, as it includes plant species used to make coffee and quinine. Taylor also conducts work related to the floristics of Rubiaceae and morphological radiations of the group. Taylor has collected plant samples from many countries across the globe, including Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and the United States of America, and has named many new species known to science from these regions. As of 2015, Taylor has authored 278 land plant species' names, the seventh-highest number of such names authored by any female scientist.
