| Canthium | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Canthium coromandelicum | |
Scientific 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 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.
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]
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.
As of 2023 [update] , Plants of the World Online recognises the following species: [1]
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.
Bullockia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was originally described as a subgenus of Canthium. The genus is distributed in eastern and southern Africa from Ethiopia to Transvaal, as well as Madagascar in bushland, woodland, savannas, and dry, deciduous forests.
Afrocanthium keniense is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Kenya. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Lagynias was a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae but is no longer recognized. In 2005, it was sunk into synonymy with Vangueria, based on a phylogenetic study of DNA sequences.
Lasianthus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. They are tropical subshrubs, shrubs, or rarely, small trees. They inhabit the understory of primary forests.
Multidentia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae.
Polyalthia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. There are approximately 90 species distributed from Africa to Asia and the Pacific.
Psydrax is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It consists of trees, shrubs, and a few lianas in the paleotropics.
Pyrostria is a genus of dioecious flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. Most of the species are endemic to Madagascar, others occur on islands in the western Indian Ocean, a few are found in continental Africa, and only six species occur in tropical Southeast Asia. The formerly recognized genus Leroya, containing two species endemic to Madagascar, L. madagascariensis and L. richardiae, was sunk into synonymy with Pyrostria.
Robynsia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was described by John Hutchinson and was named after his friend and colleague Walter Robyns. The genus contains only one species, Robynsia glabrata, which is found in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. The species is morphologically similar to the genus Cuviera but differs by having long, slender corolla tubes.
Tapiphyllum was a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae but is no longer recognized. In 2005, a molecular phylogenetic study showed that the type species, Tapiphyllum cinerascens, is more closely related to Vangueria than to Tapiphyllum obtusifolium and Tapiphyllum velutinum. It is not clear whether the latter two species are really separate from Vangueria. All the species of Tapiphyllum have been sunk into synonymy with Vangueria.
Urophyllum is a genus of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae, native to from south China to Tropical Asia. The genus was established by Nathaniel Wallich in 1824.
Argostemma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It can be found in (sub)tropical Asia and western and west-central tropical Africa.
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.
Afrocanthium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It consists of deciduous, unarmed trees, and shrubs. They are native to East Africa, from Sudan and Ethiopia to South Africa.
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.
Canthium armatum is a species of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is a shrub or tree native to southern Mozambique, Eswatini, and KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Provinces of northeastern South Africa. The species is characterized by the presence of large spines.
Meyna is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae.
Ancylanthos was a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae but is no longer recognized. It was originally described by René Louiche Desfontaines in 1818. In 2005, it was sunk into synonymy with Vangueria, based on a phylogenetic study of DNA sequences.
