Trichome

Canthium
Canthium coromandelicum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Ixoroideae
Tribe: Vanguerieae
Genus: Canthium
Lam.[1]
Type species
Canthium coromandelicum
Synonyms[1]
Canthium coromandelicum

Canthium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny.

Distribution[edit]

Canthium species are predominantly found in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand and the Philippines.[2] A small number of species is found in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Only a limited number of species is found on the African continent, especially in Southern and East Africa.[3]

Taxonomy[edit]

Canthium was named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1785 in Encyclopédie Méthodique.[4] The name is a latinisation of "kantankara", a Malayalam name from Kerala for Canthium coromandelicum. Kantan means "shining" and kara means "a spiny shrub".[5] The biological type for the genus consists of specimens originally described by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck as Canthium parviflorum[6] but this species is now included in Canthium coromandelicum.[2] Canthium is a member of Vanguerieae, a tribe that is monophyletic and easily recognized morphologically, but in which generic boundaries were, for a long time, very unclear.[7] Canthium was especially problematic, and until the 1980s, it was defined broadly and known to be polyphyletic. Psydrax was separated from it in 1985,[8] as was Keetia in 1986.[9] These were followed by Pyrostria and Multidentia in 1987.[10][11] The subgenus Afrocanthium was raised to generic rank in 2004,[12] followed by Bullockia in 2009.[13] A few species were transferred to Canthium from Rytigynia and other genera in 2004.[12] The genus was further reduced by the transfer of species to Peponidium and Pyrostria.[14] In 2016, two Canthium species endemic to the Philippines were transferred to a genus of their own, Kanapia.[15] The final circumscription of Canthium will remain in doubt until phylogenetic studies achieve greater resolution for the clade containing Canthium coromandelicum and its closest relatives.

Species[edit]

As of 2023, Plants of the World Online recognises the following species:[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Canthium". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b Bridson DM (1992). "The genus Canthium (Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae) in tropical Africa". Kew Bulletin. 47 (3): 353–401. doi:10.2307/4110569. JSTOR 4110569.
  3. ^ "Canthium in the World Checklist of Rubiaceae". Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  4. ^ Lamarck J-B (1785). Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières. Vol. 1. p. 602.
  5. ^ Quattrocchi U (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. 1. Boca Raton, New York, Washington DC, London: CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-2675-2.
  6. ^ Canthium In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile
  7. ^ Lantz H, Bremer B (2005). "Phylogeny of the complex Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae) genera Fadogia, Rytigynia, and Vangueria with close relatives and a new circumscription of Vangueria". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 253 (1–4): 159–183. doi:10.1007/s00606-005-0313-9. S2CID 30867982.
  8. ^ Bridson DM (1985). "The reinstatement of Psydrax (Rubiaceae, subfam. Cinchonoideae tribe Vanguerieae) and a revision of the African species". Kew Bulletin. 40 (4): 687–725. doi:10.2307/4109853. JSTOR 4109853.
  9. ^ Bridson DM (1986). "The reinstatement of the African genus Keetia (Rubiaceae subfam. Cinchonoideae tribe Vanguerieae)". Kew Bulletin. 41 (4): 965–994. doi:10.2307/4102996. JSTOR 4102996.
  10. ^ Bridson DM (1987). "Studies in African Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae: a new circumscription of Pyrostria and a new subgenus, Canthium subgen. Bullockia". Kew Bulletin. 47 (3): 611–639. doi:10.2307/4110068. JSTOR 4110068.
  11. ^ Bridson DM (1987). "The recognition and recircumscription of the African genus Multidentia (Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae)". Kew Bulletin. 47 (3): 641–654. doi:10.2307/4110069. JSTOR 4110069.
  12. ^ a b Lantz H, Bremer B (2004). "Phylogeny inferred from morphology and DNA data: characterizing well-supported groups in Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae)". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 146 (3): 257–283. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2004.00338.x.
  13. ^ Razafimandimbison SG, Lantz H, Mouly A, Bremer B (2009). "Evolutionary trends, major lineages, and new generic limits in the dioecious group of the tribe Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae): insights into the evolution of functional dioecy". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 96 (1): 161–181. doi:10.3417/2006191. S2CID 86065468.
  14. ^ Kainulainen K, Razafimandimbison SG (2016). "New taxonomic combinations in West Indian Ocean Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae)". Phytotaxa. 282 (4): 267–272. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.282.4.3.
  15. ^ Arriola AH, Paraguison LD, Alejandro GJ (2016). "Kanapia (Vanguerieae): a new endemic genus of Philippine Rubiaceae". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 302 (7): 911–920. doi:10.1007/s00606-016-1307-5. S2CID 14815565.

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