| Aspidostemon | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Laurales |
| Family: | Lauraceae |
| Genus: | Aspidostemon Rohwer & H.G.Richt. |
| Species | |
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
Aspidostemon is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. It occurs in Madagascar. [1]
The genus was described by Jens Gunter Rohwer & Hans Georg Richter in Jahrbuch für Botanische Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 109 (1): 74 in 1987. The type species is Aspidostemon perrieri (Danguy) Rohwer. The number of collections available is not large. [2] The identification was done at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
They are shrubs or trees up to 25 m high, hermaphrodites. The leaves are entire, elliptical or narrowly elliptical. The fruit is a berry-like drupe dispersed mostly by birds. Aspidostemon species are no exception among the Lauraceae; they are trees with small flowers, hard to detect and collect and often overlooked or ignored when plants easier to collect or with showier flowers are at hand.
Aspidostemon is characterized by its opposite leaves, [2] flowers with three or six stamens (compared to 9 in Cryptocarya), and a fruit which is completely enclosed in the enlarged hypanthium with persistent floral parts attached to the top of the fruit. [2] When the genus was described by Rohwer & Richter in 1987, they recognized 11 species, but today 28 species are accepted.[ citation needed ] Some species are endangered or almost extinct. [2] Based on a combination of wood anatomical, vegetative, and floral characters, noted by such earlier botanists as Kostermans in 1957, the species of genus Aspidostemon were placed formerly as belonging to subgenera Hexanthera and Trianthera of Cryptocarya . [2]
Aspidostemon species have the large trees characteristic of rainforest in montane laurel forest habitats in Madagascar and nearby islands and restricted to this region. They belong to an ancient isolated Gondwanian element of Laurales. A great number of species are in danger of extinction due to overexploitation as timber extraction and loss of habitat.
They are leafy canopy trees with erect or spreading branches. They grow to heights of up to 25 m, or some species to 40 m. Their stout trunks are up to 1 m in diameter. The genus is easily recognizable by its bark which is soft and cheese-like. [2] The thick, leathery leaves are dark green. The leaves are glossy laurel type. The leaves of Aspidostemon species are not infrequently acuminate, with an acumen folded into a short tube. On opening a few of these inrolled apices, egg cases similar to those found in leaf domatia are found; epiphyllous hepatics were also found. These inrolled apices apparently function as domatia and shelter mites that clean the leaves.
The fruit is an important food source for birds, usually from specialized genera. Birds eat the whole fruit and regurgitate or defecate the seeds intact, expanding the seeds in the best conditions for germination (ornitochory). In some species, seed dispersal is carried out by mammals.
29 species are currently accepted: [3]
The flowering plant family Lauraceae, the laurels, includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide. They are dicotyledons, and occur mainly in warm temperate and tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America. Many are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but some, such as Sassafras, are deciduous, or include both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, especially in tropical and temperate climates. The genus Cassytha is unique in the Lauraceae in that its members are parasitic vines. Most laurels are highly-poisonous.
Ocotea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. Many are evergreen trees with lauroid leaves.
Cryptocarya is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes more than 350 species, distributed through the Neotropical, Afrotropical, Indomalayan, and Australasian realms.
Endiandra is a genus of about 126 species of plants, mainly trees, in the laurel family Lauraceae. They are commonly called "walnut" despite not being related to the Northern Hemisphere walnuts which are in the family Juglandaceae.
Neocinnamomum is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees, indigenous to Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Aiouea is a genus of shrubs and trees in the family Lauraceae. It is native to tropical forests and montane forests of North and South America. The name is a curiosity because it consists entirely of vowels.
Aniba is an American neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae. They are present in low and mountain cloud forest in Caribbean islands, Central America, and northern to central South America.
Beilschmiedia is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. The best-known species to gardeners in temperate areas are B. berteroana and B. miersii because of their frost tolerance. Seeds of B. bancroftii were used as a source of food by Australian Aborigines. Timbers of some species are very valuable.
Caryodaphnopsis is a genus of 16 species belonging to the flowering plant family Lauraceae, distributed in tropical areas in southern North America, northern South America, and East and Southeast Asia.
Mezilaurus is a genus of plant in the family Lauraceae. It is a neotropical genus consisting of 18-27 species, mostly hardwood evergreen trees, occurring from Costa Rica to the southeast of Brazil. 13 species have been identified in Brazil, distributed mostly in the Amazon region. In Rio de Janeiro state only M. navalium (Allemão) Taub. ex Mez has been recorded. Some species have been reported within the Cerrado and in semideciduous forest surrounding the Pantanal Matogrossense. The name Mezilaurus refers to its similar appearance to the genus Laurus.
Nectandra is a genus of plant in the family Lauraceae. They are primarily Neotropical, with Nectandra coriacea being the only species reaching the southernmost United States. They have fruit with various medical effects. Sweetwood is a common name for some plants in this genus.
Potameia is a genus of plant in laurel family (Lauraceae). It contains 23 species, which are native to Madagascar or Thailand.
Adenodaphne is a genus of shrubs and small trees endemic to New Caledonia belonging to the family Lauraceae. The genus is related to Litsea. They have 12 chromosomes.
Dehaasia is a genus of evergreen or deciduous trees or shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae, with 53 species native to continental Asia, from India to China, and islands of Borneo, New Guinea, and Indonesia.
Endlicheria is a neotropical plant genus consisting of approximately 60 species, occurring mostly in northern South America and the Amazon region. Most species are medium-sized trees, sometime up to 40 metres in height, but a few species are shrubs. DNA molecular data shows that it is closely related to Rhodostemonodaphne and Ocotea.
Rhodostemonodaphne is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lauraceae. It is a neotropical genus consisting of approximately 41 species occurring in Central America and northern South America. This genus has many species that are valued for timber. The classification of the genus is unclear since the species in the genus fall into a well-supported but unresolved clade that also includes species with unisexual flowers currently placed in the genera Endlicheria and part of Ocotea.
Kubitzia is an American neotropical flowering plant genus in the family Lauraceae with two species from South America.
Potoxylon is a monotypic genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. Its only species, Potoxylon melagangai, is native to Borneo.
Williamodendron is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae, in South America.