Gastonia (plant)

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Polyscias cutispongia (=Gastonia cutispongia) Gastonia-Cutispongia-1.jpg
Polyscias cutispongia (=Gastonia cutispongia)

Gastonia Commerson ex Lamarck is a formerly accepted genus of plants in the ivy and ginseng family, Araliaceae. It had been known as an unnatural group, but was recognized as late as 2010, when its nine species [1] were distributed to four different subgenera of the large genus Polyscias . [2] Because the genus Gastonia is now obsolete, its species are herein referred to by their names in Polyscias.

Contents

The species that constituted Gastonia are mostly island endemics, with Madagascar and New Guinea being the largest land masses on which any of them naturally occur. Gastonia had a disjunct distribution, with three species from the Seychelles, three more from the Mascarenes, one from Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, and two distributed from Malesia to the Solomon Islands. [3]

Gastonia is a genus of small to large size trees. It shares with related genera, the lack of an articulation on the pedicel, below the flower. It is distinguished from Reynoldsia , Munroidendron , and Tetraplasandra by the radiating style arms that persist on the fruit. [4]

Species

Listed below are the nine species placed in Gastonia by Frodin and Govaerts (2003). [3] Names in Polyacias are from Lowry and Plunkett (2010). [2]

Notes on selected species

Polyscias spectabilis is from New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It sometimes exceeds 40 m (130 ft) in height, and is the tallest member of Araliaceae. [1] Like most members of Polyscias, P. spectabilis is sparingly branched, sometimes even palm-like in form, at least when young. Mature individuals of P. spectabilis are sometimes unbranched for 3/4 of the height of the tree. [3] Hermann Harms erected the monotypic genus Peekeliopanax for it in 1926, [5] but was not followed by other authors.

The type species for Gastonia is Gastonia cutispongia (now Polyscias cutispongia). [6] It is a tall, smooth tree with spongy bark. It is native to Réunion and sometimes planted there, [7] but it has become very rare. [3]

Polyscias maraisiana is endemic to Mauritius and was cultivated in Europe in the 19th century, but has not been seen there since that time. [3] It was considered exotic on account of its strikingly heteroblastic leaves.

Polyscias maraisiana has been the subject of some nomenclatural instability. In 1984, Wessel Marais separated it from Gastonia cutispongia as Gastonia mauritiana. [8] In 2003, it was shown that the correct name for this species was Gastonia elegans because it had first been described in 1866 as Terminalia elegans. [3] This description was a large and unexpected taxonomic error because Terminalia is in the Myrtalean family Combretaceae. In 2010, when this species was transferred to Polyscias, the specific epithet had to be changed again because the names Polyscias mauritiana and Polyscias elegans already existed. The latter two are in the Polyscias subgenera Grotefendia and Tieghemopanax, respectively. [2]

The most widespread and variable of the species in the former Gastonia is Polyscias serratifolia. It ranges thru most of Malesia and from there to the Solomon Islands. Some of its varieties have been named as separate species and placed in other genera, such as Arthrophyllum and Tetraplasandra . These were united into one species by Philipson, as Gastonia papuana in 1970, [9] and as Gastonia serratifolia in 1979. [10]

History

Quattrocchi states that Gastonia was "named after Gaston d'Orléans, 1608-1660, a patron and promoter of botany and floriculture". [11] The name was originated by Philibert Commerson, [12] [13] but validated later, in 1788, by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in Encyclopédie Méthodique. [14]

Lamarck gave a detailed description of the species that he named Gastonia cutispongia. He named another species, but gave it only a cursory description. No one today is really sure of what the other species was. Some authors believe that it was not even a member of Araliaceae.

Other species were added to Gastonia in the 19th century. In 1898, Hermann Harms transferred what is now Polyscias sechellarum to Gastonia in a landmark monograph on Araliaceae in Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien. [15]

William Raymond Philipson gave Gastonia its modern definition in 1970. [4] He included Malesian species that had been in Tetraplasandra , thus restricting that genus to the Hawaiian Islands. He also reduced the monotypic genera Indokingia (Polyscias crassa) and Peekeliopanax (Polyscias spectabilis) into synonymy under Gastonia. [4]

William Botting Hemsley had named Indokingia in 1906 in Hooker's Icones Plantarum. [16] [17] Peekeliopanax was a name that Hermann Harms had applied to a flowering specimen in 1926. A few years later, he placed a fruiting specimen of the same species under Gastonia. [4]

In 2003, a checklist and nomenclator was published for Araliaceae by Kew Gardens. [3] Nine species were recognized therein for Gastonia. The genus was described as "generalized, altho in details, it is quite varied". Since that time, molecular phylogenetic studies, based on DNA sequences, have shown that Gastonia was polyphyletic. [18] These studies have shown that biogeography is strongly correlated with relationships in Araliaceae.

In 2010, the genus Polyscias was expanded from about 100 species to 159. The number of species in Polyscias will be around 250 when the undescribed species are published. Six genera ( Arthrophyllum , Cuphocarpus , Gastonia, Reynoldsia , Munroidendron , and Tetraplasandra ) were placed in synonymy under Polyscias. In accordance with the phylogenetic studies of DNA, Polyscias was divided into 11 subgenera (Polyscias, Grotefendia, Maralia, Arthrophyllum, Cuphocarpus, Tetraplasandra, Eupteron, Sciadopanax, Tieghemopanax, Indokingia, and Palmervandenbroekia) and seven species were left incertae sedis. [2]

The nine species that had been in Gastonia went to four different subgenera of Polyscias; three species went to Grotefendia, three more to Indokingia, two to Tetraplasandra, and one to Maralia.

Polyscias cutispongia, Polyscias maraisiana, and Polyscias rodriguesiana are endemic to Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues, respectively. The latter two were separated from P. cutispongia in 1984. [8] They are in ''Polyscias'' subgenus Grotefendia, which comprises 15 species, all from the Mascarene Islands. The type species for Polyscias subgenus Grotefendia is Polyscias repanda .

Polyscias subgenus Grotefendia contains Polyscias cutispongia, the type species for Gastonia. If the subgenus Grotefendia were to be raised to the taxonomic rank of genus, the name Gastonia would have priority over Grotefendia, according to the ICNAFP. [2]

Polyscias crassa, Polyscias sechellarum, and Polyscias lionnetii are all from the Seychelles, with Polyscias lionnetii being very rare and restricted to the island of Mahé. These are the only species of Polyscias in the Seychelles, and together, they constitute ''Polyscias'' subgenus Indokingia. "Polyscias seychellarum" is an orthographical variant of Polyscias sechellarum. Polyscias sechellarum was divided into three varieties in 1987, [19] but some authors have declined to recognize them until further studies can be done on this species.

Polyscias duplicata (formerly Gastonia duplicata) is in ''Polyscias'' subgenus Maralia. Maralia is, by far, the largest subgenus of Polyscias, with about 115 species. Most of them, like Polyscias duplicata, are endemic to Madagascar.

Polyscias serratifolia and Polyscias spectabilis are now in ''Polyscias'' subgenus Tetraplasandra. This is a wide-ranging subgenus of 21 species. Eleven species are endemic to Hawaii, and ten others are distributed in a large area that includes Malesia and extends eastward to Tahiti. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Araliaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely, but it is predominantly distinguishable based on its woody habit, tropical distribution, and the presence of simple umbels.

<i>Schefflera</i> Genus of plants

Schefflera is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. With an estimated 600–900 species, the genus represents about half of its family. The plants are trees, shrubs or lianas, growing 4–20 metres (13–66 ft) tall, with woody stems, the absence of articulated pedicels and armaments, and palmately compound leaves.

<i>Polyscias racemosa</i> Species of tree

Polyscias racemosa, or false 'ohe, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae. As Munroidendron racemosum, the species was until recently considered to be the only species in the monotypic genus Munroidendron. With the change in classification, Munroidendron is now obsolete. Polyscias racemosa is endemic to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. It is very rare in the wild and some of its original habitat has been replaced by sugar cane plantations. It was thought for some time to be probably extinct, but was rediscovered a few years prior to 1967.

<i>Vitex</i> Genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae

Vitex is a genus of flowering plants in the sage family Lamiaceae. It has about 250 species. Common names include chaste tree or chastetree, traditionally referring to V. agnus-castus, but often applied to other species, as well.

<i>Meryta</i> Genus of plants

Meryta is a genus in the flowering plant family Araliaceae. There are 28 described species in the genus and a number of undescribed species, all small, resinous trees of the subtropical and tropical Pacific Ocean, characterized by huge, simple leaves and a dioecious sexual system, a unique combination in Araliaceae. Meryta has its center of diversity in New Caledonia. Phylogenetic analyses have placed Meryta as a monophyletic genus in one of the three major clades of the Araliaciae, the Polyscias-Pseudopanax group, and more specifically in the Pacific Schefflera subclade.

Arthrophyllum is a defunct genus of plants in the family Araliaceae. It was recognized by most authors until 2010, when all of its 30 species were "sunk" into Polyscias subgenus Arthrophyllum.

Cuphocarpus is an obsolete genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. Mabberley (2008) treated it as a synonym of Polyscias, but other authors still recognized it at that time. In 2010, in a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences, it was shown that Cuphocarpus was biphyletic and embedded in the large genus Polyscias. In an accompanying paper, Polyscias was divided into 11 subgenera, with seven species left incertae sedis.

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

Polyscias is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. They bear pinnately compound leaves.

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

Raukaua is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. It has an austral distribution, being indigenous to southern Argentina and Chile, as well as New Zealand and the island of Tasmania.

Reynoldsia is a formerly recognised genus of plants in the ivy family, Araliaceae. In 2003, Kew Gardens published a checklist for Araliaceae, in which eight species were recognized for Reynoldsia: four from Samoa, two from Tahiti, one from the Marquesas, and one from Hawaii. In 2010, a phylogenetic comparison of DNA data showed that Reynoldsia was polyphyletic, consisting of two groups that are not each other's closest relatives. In a companion paper, three of the species were "sunk" into synonymy with others, reducing the number of species to five. All species that were formerly in Reynoldsia are now in Polyscias subgenus Tetraplasandra, a subgenus of 21 species indigenous to Malesia and the Pacific islands.

Tetraplasandra is a no longer recognised genus of plants in the ivy family, Araliaceae. They are small to medium trees, of mesic to wet forests.

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Aralioideae is a subfamily of flowering plants contains around 50 recognized genera. These include the genus Panax, to which ginseng belongs. Other notable species are the Angelica-tree, the devil's club, or common ivy.

Polyscias pulgarensis, synonym Arthrophyllum pulgarense, is a species of plant in the family Araliaceae. It is endemic to the Philippines.

Polyscias crassa is a species of plant in the family Araliaceae. It is endemic to Seychelles. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<i>Polyscias maraisiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Polyscias maraisiana is a species of plant in the family Araliaceae, formerly named Gastonia mauritiana.

<i>Polyscias rodriguesiana</i> Species of flowering plant

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

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Polyscias gymnocarpa, commonly known as the Koolau Range 'ohe or Koʻolau tetraplasandra, is a species of flowering plant in the family Araliaceae, that is endemic to the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. It is threatened by habitat loss.

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<i>Polyscias oahuensis</i> Species of tree

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References

  1. 1 2 Mabberley, D.J. (2008). Mabberley's Plant-book A Portable Dictionary of Plants, Their Classifications, and Uses. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-82071-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Porter P. Lowry II and Gregory M. Plunkett. 2010. "Recircumscription of Polyscias (Araliaceae) to include six related genera, with a new infrageneric classification and a synopsis of species". Plant Diversity and Evolution (formerly Botanische Jahrbucher) 128(1-2):55-84. doi : 10.1127/1869-6155/2010/0128-0003. (See External links below).
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 David G. Frodin; Rafaël Govaerts (2003). World Checklist and Bibliography of Araliaceae. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. ISBN   978-1-84246-048-1.
  4. 1 2 3 4 William R. Philipson. 1970. "A redefinition of Gastonia and related genera (Araliaceae)". Blumea18(2):497-505.
  5. ↑ Peekeliopanax in International Plant Names Index. (see External links below).
  6. ↑ Gastonia In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below).
  7. ↑ Royal Horticultural Society (Great Britain) (1992). Dictionary of gardening. ISBN   978-0-333-47494-5.
  8. 1 2 Wessel Marais. 1984. "Notes on Mascarene Araliaceae". Kew Bulletin39(4):809-816.
  9. ↑ William R. Philipson. 1970. "The Malesian species of Gastonia (Araliaceae)". Blumea18(2):491-495.
  10. ↑ Cornelis Gijsbert Gerrit Jan van Steenis; Maria Johanna van Steenis-Kruseman; Willem Jan Jacobus Oswald Wilde (1979). Flora Malesiana. Series I. Spermatophyta Being an Illustrated Systematic Account of the Malaysian Flora Including Keys for Determination, Diagnostic Descriptions, References to the Literature, Synonymy, and Distribution, and Notes on the Ecology of Its Wild and Commonly. Plants. ISBN   978-90-286-0629-6.
  11. ↑ Quattrocchi, Umberto (1999). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. Taylor & Francis US. ISBN   978-0-8493-2676-9.
  12. ↑ Gastonia in International Plant Names Index. (see External links below).
  13. ↑ Antoine Laurent de Jussieu (1789). Antonii Laurentii de Jussieu. Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita, juxta methodum in Horto regio Parisiensi exaratam, anno M. DCC. LXXIV. Apud Viduam Herissant, typographum.
  14. ↑ Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. 1788. Encyclopédie Méthodique: Botanique 2(2):610. (See External links below).
  15. ↑ Hermann A.T. Harms. 1898. "Araliaceae". pages 1-62. In: H.G Adolf Engler and Karl A.E. Prantl. Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien III.Teil. 8. Abteilung. (volume 3, part 8). Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann: Leipzig, Germany.
  16. ↑ Indokingia in International Plant Names Index. (see External links below).
  17. ↑ William B. Hemsley. 1909. Hooker's Icones Plantarum volume 29 (volume IX of series 4), tabula (plate) 2805 and following text. (See External links below).
  18. ↑ Gregory M. Plunkett and Porter P. Lowry II. 2010. "Paraphyly and polyphyly in Polyscias sensu lato: molecular evidence and the case for recircumscribing the "pinnate genera" of Araliaceae". Plant Diversity and Evolution (formerly Botanische Jahrbucher) 128(1-2):23-54. doi : 10.1127/1869-6155/2010/0128-0002.
  19. ↑ Francis Friedmann. 1987. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Section B, Adansonia Séries 4, 8(3): 251

Sources

Gregory M. Plunkett, Jun Wen, Porter P. Lowry II, Murray J. Henwood, Pedro Fiaschi, and Anthony D. Mitchell. accepted, undated. Araliaceae, pages ??. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor); ?? (volume editor). The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume ??. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN ??

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