Trochetiopsis

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Trochetiopsis
Temporal range: Late Miocene-Present 9–0  Ma
Trochetiopsis erythroxylon.jpg
Trochetiopsis erythroxylon only survives in horticulture at present
Trochetiopsis ebenus.jpg
Flower of Trochetiopsis ebenus
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Dombeyoideae
Genus: Trochetiopsis
Wessel Marais (1929- ), 1981
Species

Trochetiopsis × benjaminii
Trochetiopsis ebenus
Trochetiopsis erythroxylon (extinct in the wild)
Trochetiopsis melanoxylon (extinct)

Contents

The flowering plant genus Trochetiopsis consists of two extant and one extinct species endemic to the island of Saint Helena (South Atlantic Ocean). They were formerly placed in the family Sterculiaceae, but this is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics.

There is evidence from fossil pollen that the Trochetiopsis lineage has been on Saint Helena since the late Miocene (some 9.5 million years). [1]

Description

The species of this genus were formerly included in the genus Trochetia , but were separated by Marais in 1981 on the basis of geography and morphological characters. [2] Unlike in Trochetia, the Trochetiopsis flowers have only five stamens, and the sepals generally have appressed sericeous indumentum on their interior faces (although one species, T. melanoxylon, lacks this last character).

The wood of all the species is attractively coloured and is used in island inlay work.

Phylogeny

Trochetiopsis is closely related to the genera Melhania and Paramelhania, with a 2021 study subsuming Trochetiopsis and Paramelhania into Melhania. [3]

Species

There are three species (two living, one extinct), and one named hybrid:

See also

Footnotes

  1. Cronk (1990)
  2. Marais (1981)
  3. Dorr, Laurence J.; Wurdack, Kenneth J. (February 2021). "Indo‐Asian Eriolaena expanded to include two Malagasy genera, and other generic realignments based on molecular phylogenetics of Dombeyoideae (Malvaceae)". Taxon. 70 (1): 99–126. doi:10.1002/tax.12370. ISSN   0040-0262. S2CID   228860710.

Related Research Articles

Sterculiaceae was a family of flowering plant based on the genus Sterculia. Genera formerly included in Sterculiaceae are now placed in the family Malvaceae, in the subfamilies: Byttnerioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae and Sterculioideae.

Saint Helena scrub and woodlands

The Saint Helena scrub and woodlands ecoregion covers the volcanic island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. The island's remote location gave rise to many endemic species. First discovered and settled in the 1500s, the island has been degraded by human activities. Most of its native habitat has been destroyed, and many of its unique plants and animals are extinct or endangered.

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

Trochetia is a genus of flowering plants from the family Malvaceae. They are endemic to the Mascarene Islands.

<i>Trochetia boutoniana</i> Species of shrub

Trochetia boutoniana also known by its native Creole name boucle d'oreille is a shrub from the genus Trochetia endemic to Mauritius. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics.

Saint Helena olive Extinct species of flowering plant

The Saint Helena olive is an extinct species of flowering plant. It is the only member of the genus Nesiota. It was endemic to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Despite its name, it is unrelated to the true olive, but is instead a member of the family Rhamnaceae, the family which contains buckthorns and jujube. The last remaining tree in the wild died in 1994, and the last remaining individual in cultivation died in December 2003, despite conservation efforts. It is thus a prime example of recent plant extinction. The Saint Helena olive belongs to the tribe Phyliceae, which are mostly endemic to Southern Africa.

<i>Acalypha rubrinervis</i> Extinct species of flowering plant

Acalypha rubrinervis is an extinct plant in the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), from the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. It was called string tree on account of the thin pendulous inflorescences which resembled red strings. Disturbance following human settlement on the island destroyed its habitat and it was last seen in the 19th century. It is thus one of a number of island plants to have been driven to extinction by human activity.

Flora of St Helena

The flora of Saint Helena, an isolated island in the South Atlantic Ocean, is exceptional in its high level of endemism and the severe threats facing the survival of the flora. In phytogeography, it is in the phytochorion St. Helena and Ascension Region of the African Subkingdom, in the Paleotropical Kingdom.

<i>Trochetiopsis erythroxylon</i> Species of flowering plant

Trochetiopsis erythroxylon, the Saint Helena redwood, is a species of plant, now extinct in the wild. It was formerly abundant enough in the upland parts of the island of Saint Helena for early settlers in the 17th century to use the timber to make their homes. It now exists in cultivation, although cultivated stock is weak. This species has pendant flowers, petals that turn pink with age, and white staminodes.

<i>Trochetiopsis ebenus</i> Species of flowering plant

Trochetiopsis ebenus, the dwarf ebony or Saint Helena ebony, is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to the island of Saint Helena in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is not related to the ebony of commerce, but is instead a member of the mallow family, Malvaceae. Saint Helena ebony is now critically endangered in the wild, being reduced to two wild individuals on a cliff, but old roots are sometimes found washed out of eroding slopes. These are collected on the island a used for inlay work, an important craft on Saint Helena. A related species, Trochetiopsis melanoxylon is now completely extinct.

<i>Trochetiopsis melanoxylon</i> Extinct species of flowering plant

Trochetiopsis melanoxylon, the dwarf ebony or St Helena ebony, of the island of Saint Helena is related to Trochetiopsis ebenus but is now extinct. It differed from T. ebenus by having much smaller flowers, sepals hairless on their interior surfaces and leaves densely hairy on both surfaces.

Heliotropium pannifolium, the Saint Helena heliotrope, is now extinct but was formerly a hairy-leaved small shrub up to 1 m in height. it was only seen once, by the explorer W. Burchell in Broad Gut, Saint Helena and has never been seen again. Human impact on the island of Saint Helena was severe and the Saint Helena heliotrope is one of several extinct plants from that island.

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

Mellissia was formerly a monotypic genus in the family Solanaceae with the single species, Mellissia begoniifolia, endemic to the island of Saint Helena. It was named by Joseph Dalton Hooker in honour of John Charles Melliss, a 19th-century engineer and amateur naturalist who worked on Saint Helena. The plant is now known correctly as Withania begoniifolia (Roxb.) Hunz. & Barboza, the genus Mellissia having been subsumed in the genus Withania.

<i>Nesohedyotis</i> Genus of plants

Nesohedyotis is a genus of flowering plants endemic to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. It in the family Rubiaceae.

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

Melhania is a genus of small shrubs or herbaceous plants. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics. The genus is named for Mount Melhan in Yemen.

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

Lasiopetalum, commonly known as velvet bushes, is a genus of about forty-five species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae, all endemic to Australia.

Dombeyoideae Subfamily of flowering plants

Dombeyoideae is a widely distributed subfamily of the Malvaceae, as proposed by the APG. Most of the plants placed here were once assembled with more or less related genera in the paraphyletic Sterculiaceae; a lesser number were placed in the Tiliaceae which were also not monophyletic.

Trochetia parviflora is a very rare shrub from the genus Trochetia endemic to Mauritius. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics.

St Helena ebony is a common name for two closely related plants endemic to St Helena. It is inconsistently applied, and either of the following species may be referred to as St Helena ebony, with dwarf ebony used to refer to the other:

Dwarf ebony is a common name for two closely related plants endemic to St Helena. It is inconsistently applied, and either of the following species may be referred to as dwarf ebony, with St Helena ebony used to refer to the other:

References