| Maiden berries | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A species of Crossopetalum, C. rhacoma | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Celastrales |
| Family: | Celastraceae |
| Genus: | Crossopetalum P.Browne |
| Species | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Crossopetalum, commonly known as Christmas-berries or maiden berries, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. It comprises about 30-40 species. [2]
Crossopetalum taxa are shrubs or trees, with opposite or whorled persistent leaves with petiole and stipules. Inflorescences are axillary, regrouping white, pale green, reddish, or purplish radially symmetric flowers, with four sepals, four petals, and a four-carpellate pistil. Intrastaminal nectaries are annular and fleshy. Fruits are red drupes, with one-two seeds per fruit. [3]
The etymology of the genus name Crossopetalum derives from the two Ancient Greek words κροσσός (krossós), meaning "fringe", and πέταλον (pétalon), meaning "leaf of a flower". [4] [5] It alludes to the fimbriate petals of the type species (C. rhacoma). [3]
The synonym name Myginda is a taxonomic anagram derived from the name of the confamilial genus Gyminda . The latter name is a taxonomic patronym honoring Franz von Mygind (1710 - 1789), a Danish-Austrian court official, who traveled to Barbados, collected plants with herbarium specimens hosted in the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest, and was a friend of Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. [6]
According to Plants of the World Online, 36 species are recognized. [7]
Celastrus, commonly known as staff vine, staff tree or bittersweet, is the type genus of the family Celastraceae; it contains over 40 species of shrubs and vines, which have a wide distribution in East Asia, Australasia, Africa, and the Americas.
The Canellaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Canellales. The order includes only one other family, the Winteraceae. Canellaceae is native to the Afrotropical and Neotropical realms. They are small to medium trees, rarely shrubs, evergreen and aromatic. The flowers and fruit are often red.
Myrica is a genus of about 35–50 species of small trees and shrubs in the family Myricaceae, order Fagales. The genus has a wide distribution, including Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and missing only from Australia. Some botanists split the genus into two genera on the basis of the catkin and fruit structure, restricting Myrica to a few species, and treating the others in Morella.
Schoepfia is a genus of small hemiparasitic trees, flowering plants belonging to the family Schoepfiaceae. The genus has long been placed in the Olacaceae family.
Pimenta is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae described as a genus in 1821. It is native to Central and South America, Mexico, and the West Indies.
Amyris is a genus of flowering plants in the citrus family, Rutaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word αμυρων, which means "intensely scented" and refers to the strong odor of the resin. Members of the genus are commonly known as torchwoods because of their highly flammable wood.
Maytenus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. Members of the genus are distributed throughout Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Micronesia and Australasia, the Indian Ocean and Africa. They grow in a very wide variety of climates, from tropical to subpolar. The traditional circumscription of Maytenus is paraphyletic, so many species have been transferred to Denhamia, Gymnosporia, Monteverdia, and Tricerma.
Ternstroemia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Pentaphylacaceae. It is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Schaefferia is a genus of flowering shrubs and small trees in the family Celastraceae. The generic name honours German mycologist and clergyman Jacob Christian Schäffer (1718–1790). Members of the genus are found in the Neotropics. The plants are dioecious, with flowers that are unisexual due to abortion. The flowers are usually clustered in the leaf axil, although they are solitary in some species. The calyx of the flowers has four lobes, and the corolla consists of four petals. The ovary consists of two locules; each locule contains a single ovule which develops into a single seed. The fruit is a drupe.
Bellardia trixago is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae. The only member of the monotypic genus Bellardia, it is known as trixago bartsia or Mediterranean lineseed. This plant is native to the Mediterranean Basin, but it is known in other places with similar climates, such as California and parts of Chile, where it is an introduced species and noxious weed.
Spermacoce or false buttonweed is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises about 275 species found throughout the tropics and subtropics. Its highest diversity is found in the Americas, followed by Africa, Australia and Asia.
Iris domestica, commonly known as leopard lily, blackberry lily, and leopard flower, is an ornamental plant in the family Iridaceae. In 2005, based on molecular DNA sequence evidence, Belamcanda chinensis, the sole species in the genus Belamcanda, was transferred to the genus Iris and renamed Iris domestica.
Cassine is a genus of trees, of the plant family Celastraceae.
Miersiella is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the Burmanniaceae, first described as a genus in 1903. It contains only one known species, Miersiella umbellataUrb. It is native to South America.
Leptorhabdos is a monotypic genus of flowering plants, initially classified in Scrophulariaceae, and now within the broomrape family Orobanchaceae. It contains a single species, Leptorhabdos parviflora.
Murbeckiella is a genus of 5 species of flowering plants in the mustard family Brassicaceae. The species of the genus are native to mountainous areas in Southern Europe, the Caucasus and Northwest Africa.
Ottoschulzia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Metteniusaceae.
Schultesianthus is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Solanaceae.
Hanburia is a genus of plants in the tribe Sicyoeae of the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. Its native range is from Mexico to Venezuela and Peru. It is found in the countries of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panamá, Peru and Venezuela.
Schindleria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Petiveriaceae.
 | This Celastraceae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |