Antidesma | |
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Hame ( A. platyphyllum ) - habit | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Phyllanthaceae |
Subfamily: | Antidesmatoideae |
Tribe: | Antidesmateae |
Subtribe: | Antidesmatinae |
Genus: | Antidesma L. 1753 not Wall. 1832 [1] |
Type species | |
Antidesma alexiteria | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Antidesma is a genus of tropical plant in the family Phyllanthaceae formally described by Linnaeus in 1753. [3] [1] It is native to tropical Africa, S + E + SE Asia, Australia, and various oceanic islands. The greatest diversity occurs in Southeast Asia. [2] [4] [5] [6]
Antidesma is a variable genus which may be short and shrubby or tall and erect, approaching 30 metres in height. It has large oval shaped leathery evergreen leaves up to about 20 centimetres long and seven wide. The flowers have a strong, somewhat unpleasant scent. The staminate flowers are arranged in small bunches and the pistillate flowers grow on long racemes which will become the long strands of fruit. The fruits are spherical and just under a centimeter wide, hanging singly or paired in long, heavy bunches. They are white when immature and gradually turn red, then black. When they are still white they have sour and astringent taste, sour taste when they are red and have sweet and sour taste when they are black.
The evergreen (sometimes deciduous) simple leaves have fine hairs and show no glands. They grow in an alternate arrangement, with entire, symmetrical blades. They are connected to the stem with a petiole (leaf stalk) and stipules (appendage at the base of a leaf stalk).
The flowers grow in a raceme, with 1 bract per flower, on a short pedicel (tiny stalk, supporting a single flower). Their color is light yellowish green, but may turn red when mature. These plants are dioecious, i.e. unisexual, with male and female flowers on separate plants. There are 3 to 8 fused sepals, but no petals. The male flowers have 2 to 8 stamens, but no pistils. The female flowers have 2 to 6 stigmas. They have a 1-locular ovary with 2 ovules.
The globose to ellipsoid fruits resemble a drupe. Their color varies from green to white, red and black. The fleshy and juicy fruits are edible with a sour to bitter sweet taste. Some individuals find Antidesma bunius berries to have a bitter taste. Those who detect this bitter taste (about 15% of subjects tested) cannot taste PTC, and similarly those who can taste PTC (about 68% of the subjects) cannot taste any bitterness in Antidesma bunius, while a minority of people cannot taste bitterness in either. [7] [8]
There are 101 accepted species in the genus, as of May 2021. They are: [9]
The following taxa have been revised:
Alyxia is an Australasian genus of flowering plant in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It contains at present 106 species, but Alyxia stellata and A. tisserantii are very variable, might be cryptic species complexes, and are need of further study. It consists of shrubby, climbing or scrambling plants. This genus occurs in China, the Himalayas, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Caledonia and the Pacific Islands. There are 14 species in Australia, 21 in New Caledonia and 7 in the other Pacific Islands, including Hawaiʻi.
Gaultheria is a genus of about 283 species of shrubs in the family Ericaceae. The name commemorates Jean François Gaultier of Quebec, an honour bestowed by the Scandinavian Pehr Kalm in 1748 and taken up by Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum. These plants are native to Asia, Australasia and North and South America. In the past, the Southern Hemisphere species were often treated as the separate genus Pernettya, but no consistent reliable morphological or genetic differences support recognition of two genera, and they are now united in the single genus Gaultheria.
Canarium is a genus of about 100 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; including from southern Nigeria east to Madagascar, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and India; from Burma, Malaysia and Thailand through the Malay Peninsula and Vietnam to south China, Taiwan and the Philippines; through Borneo, Indonesia, Timor and New Guinea, through to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Palau.
Macaranga is a large genus of Old World tropical trees of the family Euphorbiaceae and the only genus in the subtribe Macaranginae. Native to Africa, Australasia, Asia and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the genus comprises over 300 different species. It was first described as a genus in 1806, based on specimens collected on the Island of Mauritius.
Blumeodendron is a genus of dioecious trees of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1873. It is widespread across much of Southeast Asia and Papuasia.
Aporosa is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the family Phyllanthaceae, first described as a genus in 1825. It is native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Papuasia, and Queensland.
Breynia is a plant genus in the family Phyllanthaceae, first described in 1776. It is native to Southeast Asia, China, the Indian Subcontinent, Papuasia, Australia, and the island of Réunion.
Plocoglottis is a genus of orchids, native to Southeast Asia and to various islands from the Andaman Islands to the Solomons.
Daemonorops was a genus of rattan palms in the family Arecaceae. Its species are now included within the genus Calamus.
Phoebe is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. There are 75 accepted species in the genus, distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia and New Guinea. 35 species occur in China, of which 27 are endemic. The first description of the genus was of the type species P. lanceolata made in 1836 by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in Systema Laurinarum, p. 98.
Chionanthus, common name: fringetrees, is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae.
Actinodaphne is an Asian genus of flowering plants in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It contains approximately 125 species of dioecious evergreen trees and shrubs.
Pothos is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. It is native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, Australia, New Guinea, Southeast Asia, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Barringtonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lecythidaceae first described as a genus with this name in 1775. It is native to Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The genus name commemorates Daines Barrington.
Goniothalamus is one of the largest palaeotropical genera of plant in family Annonaceae.
Scindapsus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. It is native to Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Queensland, and a few western Pacific islands. The species Scindapsus pictus is common in cultivation.
Phrynium is a plant genus native to China, India, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Melanesia. It was described as a genus in 1797.
Globba is a genus of plants in the ginger family. It contains about 100 species, native to China, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago and Queensland.
Teijsmanniodendron is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, first described in 1904. It is native to Southeast Asia and Papuasia.