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.
Uncaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It has about 40 species. Their distribution is pantropical, with most species native to tropical Asia, three from Africa and the Mediterranean and two from the neotropics. They are known colloquially as gambier, cat's claw or uña de gato. The latter two names are shared with several other plants. The type species for the genus is Uncaria guianensis.
Nepenthes lowii, or Low's pitcher-plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is named after Hugh Low, who discovered it on Mount Kinabalu. This species is perhaps the most unusual in the genus, being characterised by its strongly constricted upper pitchers, which bear a greatly reduced peristome and a reflexed lid with numerous bristles on its lower surface.
Alberta is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. Most species have been transferred to the genus Razafimandimbisonia, except for the type species Alberta magna. It is native to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is commonly known as Natal flame bush.
Blepharidium is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus contains only one species, viz. Blepharidium guatemalense, which is native to Guatemala, Honduras and southern Mexico. Older works might mention two species.
Pauridiantha chlorantha is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Tanzania. Under the synonym Rhipidantha chlorantha, it was the only species in the monotypic genus Rhipidantha.
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.
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.
Naucleeae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 183 species in 24 genera. Species belonging to Naucleeae occur from Australasia, tropical Asia, Madagascar, tropical Africa, and to the Neotropics and North America.
Retiniphyllum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains 20 species. It is the only genus in the tribe Retiniphylleae. The representatives are shrubs or small trees that grow in white sand soils in tropical South America. They are mainly distributed in the Guayana Region (Venezuela) but also occur in the Amazon Basin, the eastern Andes and central and eastern Brasil.
Chiococceae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 233 species in 27 genera. Most representatives occur from southern Florida to tropical and subtropical America, except for the genera Badusa and Bikkia, which are found from the Philippines to the West Pacific, and Morierina and Thiollierea, which are native to New Caledonia. The tribe Catesbaeeae is now included within Chiococceae.
The Cinchoneae are a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing about 125 species in 9 genera. Representatives are found from Costa Rica to southern tropical America. Species within Cinchoneae are characterized as small trees or shrubs with imbricate or valvate corolla aestivation and often dry capsular fruits. Many species contain alkaloids.
Ixoroideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 4000 species in 27 tribes.
Xantonneopsis is a genus of plants in the family Rubiaceae. It contains only one known species, Xantonneopsis robinsonii, native to Vietnam. The genus has been placed in the tribe Coffeeae, but a transfer from that tribe to Octotropideae was suggested in 2007 on the basis of combined molecular and morphological evidence.
Kajewskiella is a genus of plants in the family Rubiaceae, endemic to the Solomon Islands.
Rubioideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 7600 species in 27 tribes.
Dialypetalantheae, synonym Condamineeae, is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 305 species in 31 genera. Most genera are found in Central and Southern Tropical America, but a few occur in Southeast Asia.
Aleisanthieae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains 10 species in 3 genera. Its representatives are found in Borneo, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Urophylleae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains 237 species in 6 genera. Its representatives are found in the tropics.
Palicoureeae is a tribe of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and contains about 817 species in 11 genera. Its representatives are found in the tropics and subtropics.
