The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules and sympetalous actinomorphic flowers. The family contains about 13,500 species in about 620 genera, which makes it the fourth-largest angiosperm family. Rubiaceae has a cosmopolitan distribution; however, the largest species diversity is concentrated in the tropics and subtropics. Economically important genera include Coffea, the source of coffee, Cinchona, the source of the antimalarial alkaloid quinine, ornamental cultivars, and historically some dye plants.
Melanthieae is a tribe of flowering plants within the family Melanthiaceae. Molecular phylogenetic studies in the 21st century have resulted in a large-scale reassignment of many of its species to different genera; in particular the genus Zigadenus (deathcamases) has been restricted to a single species, Zigadenus glaberrimus. Plants contain alkaloids, making them unpalatable to grazing animals; many are very poisonous to both animals and humans.
Harold Ernest Robinson was an American botanist and entomologist.
Houstonia (bluet) is a genus of plants in the family Rubiaceae. Many species were formerly classified, along with other genera since segregated elsewhere, in a more inclusive genus Hedyotis.
Oldenlandia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is pantropical in distribution and has about 240 species. The type species for the genus is Oldenlandia corymbosa.
Vanguerieae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 655 species in 30 genera. It is one of the most species-rich groups within the family and it is distributed across the Paleotropics.
Hedyotis (starviolet) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. Many species of this genus such as Hedyotis biflora, H. corymbosa and H. diffusa are well known medicinal plants. Hedyotis is native to tropical and subtropical Asia and to islands of the northwest Pacific. It comprises about 115 species. The type species for the genus is Hedyotis fruticosa.
Kadua is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises 29 species, all restricted to Polynesia. Twenty-two of these are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Some of the species are common at high elevation. Others are single-island endemics or very rare, and a few are probably extinct. Kadua affinis is widely distributed in Hawaii and is polymorphic. The type species for the genus is Kadua acuminata.
Amphistemon is a genus of 2 species of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is described by Inge Groeninckx in 2010 based on a molecular analysis of the Hedyotis-Oldenlandia group. The genus name is based on the Greek 'amphi-' and 'stemon' (=stamen) referring to the dimorphic stamen position characteristic for this genus.
Arcytophyllum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus contains 18 species, distributed from New Mexico to Bolivia.
Edrastima is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus widespread and is found in Central and Eastern USA and the tropics and subtropics.
Ixoroideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 4000 species in 27 tribes.
Carterella is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus contains only one species, viz. Carterella alexanderae, which is endemic to Baja California Sur in Mexico. It grows on steep slopes in the mountains.
Houstonia correllii, the Zapata County bluet, or Correll's bluet, is a species of plants in the Rubiaceae. It is known only from Zapata County in southern Texas. It is a prostrate, mat-forming plant with white flowers.
Houstonia acerosa, the New Mexico bluet or needleleaf bluet, is a plant species native to Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Texas and New Mexico.
Houstonia palmeri, the Saltillo bluet, is a plant species in the family Rubiaceae, native to the Mexican states of Coahuila and Nuevo León.
Houstonia micrantha, the southern bluet, is a plant species in the coffee family.
Spermacoceae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 1346 species in 57 genera. Its representatives are found in the tropics and subtropics.
Leptopetalum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is widespread in tropical and subtropical Asia and the Pacific.
Dr. Charlotte M. Taylor is a botanist and professor specialising in taxonomy and conservation. She works with the large plant family Rubiaceae, particularly found in the American tropics and in the tribes Palicoureeae and Psychotrieae. This plant family is an economically important group, as it includes plant species used to make coffee and quinine. Taylor also conducts work related to the floristics of Rubiaceae and morphological radiations of the group. Taylor has collected plant samples from many countries across the globe, including Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and the United States of America, and has named many new species known to science from these regions. As of 2015, Taylor has authored 278 land plant species' names, the seventh-highest number of such names authored by any female scientist.
