Fontainea

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Fontainea
Fontainea oraria new growth.jpg
Fontainea oraria
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Crotonoideae
Tribe: Codiaeae
Genus: Fontainea
Heckel [1] [2] [3] [4]
Type species
Fontainea pancheri

Fontainea is a genus constituting part of the plant family Euphorbiaceae. [1] [2] [3] [4] The nine currently known species grow naturally in Queensland (Qld) and New South Wales (NSW) Australia (6 spp.), New Caledonia and Vanuatu (1 sp.), and Papua New Guinea (2 spp.). [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Some species are commonly named blushwood.

Contents

One species, Fontainea oraria , the coast fontainea, is known only from 10 living plants growing on private property near Lennox Head in northern New South Wales, Australia. Its status is critically endangered.

In 1870 in a European medical science doctoral thesis Édouard Marie Heckel first named this genus in honour of his supervisor Constant Aristide Fontaine (1818–1900), professor of chemistry and toxicology at Toulon, France. [1] [7]

A compound, EBC-46, taken from the seed or other plant parts of these spp. or from Hylandia dockrillii has potential cancer-fighting properties in current research and recently published studies. The experimental drug shows promising early results in pre-clinical trials in animal models. [8] [9] [10]

Description

Plants in the genus, Fontainea, are shrubs or small trees. They are dioecious or rarely monoecious, and they exude a colored latex. The leaves are alternate, entire and have pinnate venation. The flowers have pedicels. The male flowers have 18 - 32 free stamens on the receptacle, while the female flowers have ovaries with 3 - 6 uni-ovulate cells and 3 - 6 short and deeply bilobed stigmas. [11]

Species

Sourced from the authoritative Australian Plant Name Index and Australian Plant Census , [2] as of October 2014, the 1985 published genus revision, [4] the 1997 new keys and spp. descriptions, [3] and the Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. [6]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Cupaniopsis</i> Genus of flowering plants

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<i>Fontainea oraria</i> Species of tree

Fontainea oraria is a rare rainforest plant growing near the sea on private property near Lennox Head, New South Wales, Australia. The common name is coast fontainea.

<i>Gossia</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae

Gossia is a genus of rainforest trees in the myrtle family first described as a genus in 2003. It is native to northeastern Australia as well as several islands of Papuasia and New Caledonia.

<i>Argophyllum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Argophyllum is a genus in the Argophyllaceae family comprising eighteen species of shrubs and small trees. They feature alternate, simple leaves, often silvery white underneath. They appear in Australia and New Caledonia, where several species are nickel hyperaccumulator.

<i>Mischarytera</i> Genus of plants

Mischarytera is a genus of rainforest trees, constituting part of the plant family Sapindaceae. Four species are known to science as of December 2013, found growing naturally in eastern Queensland, Australia, and in New Guinea. Formerly until 1995, they had names within the genus Arytera, subgenus Mischarytera.

Euphorbia psammogeton, commonly known as sand spurge, is a flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. The specific epithet derives from the Greek psammos (“sand”) and geiton (“neighbour”), alluding to the typical habitat.

<i>Fontainea venosa</i> Species of tree

Fontainea venosa, also commonly known as southern blushwood, veiny fontainea, Queensland fontainea and formerly named as Bahrs scrub fontainea is a rare rainforest shrub or tree of the family Euphorbiaceae. It is found in southeastern Queensland, Australia, extending from Boyne Valley to Cedar Creek and is considered vulnerable due to several contributing threats. The total population size is around 200 plants.

Fontainea fugax is a shrub endemic to Queensland, in the family, Euphorbiaceae, growing up to 4 m. In 1997, F. fugax was considered "endangered" having been found in only in the central Burnett district and within an endangered community, threatened by weeds, repeated fires and clearing.

Fontainea borealis is a small tree endemic to Papua New Guinea, in the family, Euphorbiaceae, which grows to a height of 12 m.

Fontainea subpapuana is a small tree endemic to Papua New Guinea in the family, Euphorbiaceae, which grows to a height of 7 m.

<i>Fontainea pancheri</i> Species of plant

Fontainea pancheri is a small tree or shrub endemic to New Caledonia in the family, Euphorbiaceae, which grows to a height of 15 m.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Heckel, Édouard Marie (1870). Etude au point de vue botanique et thérapeutique sur le Fontainea pancheri (nobis). Thèse Inaug. Montpellier. 9. pp. 10–. Retrieved 12 Oct 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Fontainea%". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS) database (listing by % wildcard matching of all taxa relevant to Australia). Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Retrieved 12 Oct 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Forster, Paul I. (1997). "Three new species of Fontainea Heckel (Euphorbiaceae) from Australia and Papua New Guinea". Austrobaileya. 5 (1): 29–37. JSTOR   41729915.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Jessup, Laurie W.; Guymer, Gordon P. (1985). "A revision of Fontainea Heckel (Euphorbiaceae – Cluytiae)". Austrobaileya. 2 (2): 112–125. JSTOR   41738658.
  5. Forster, Paul I.; Welzen, Peter C. van (1999). "The Malesian species of Choriceras, Fontainea & Petalostigma (Euphorbiaceae)". Blumea. 44: 99–107.
  6. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  7. Archives nationales (France). Léonore database
  8. "Frequently Asked Questions". QBiotics. 2014. Retrieved 10 Oct 2014.
  9. "Scientists discover cancer-fighting berry on tree that only grows in Far North Queensland". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 8 Oct 2014. Retrieved 8 Oct 2014.
  10. Boyle, G. M.; d'Souza, M. M. A.; Pierce, C. J.; Adams, R. A.; Cantor, A. S.; Johns, J. P.; Maslovskaya, L.; Gordon, V. A.; Reddell, P. W.; Parsons, P. G. (2014). "Intra-Lesional Injection of the Novel PKC Activator EBC-46 Rapidly Ablates Tumors in Mouse Models". PLOS ONE. 9 (10): e108887. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108887 . PMC   4182759 . PMID   25272271.
  11. Endemia.nc: Fontainea. Faune et Flore de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Retrieved 25 April 2019.