''Afrocanthium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It consists of deciduous, unarmed trees, and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s. They are native to

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

, from

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and Ethiopia to South Africa.

Taxonomy

''Afrocanthium'' was first recognized as a distinct group in 1991, when it was named as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

of '' Canthium''. It was described and compared to the other subgenera in 1992. In 2004, a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study of

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

s showed that ''Afrocanthium'' is

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

and not most closely

related ''Related'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from October 5, 2005, to March 20, 2006. It revolves around the lives of four close-knit sisters of Italian descent, raised in Brooklyn and living in Manhattan. The ...

to the other subgenera of ''Canthium''. The authors of this study raised ''Afrocanthium'', unaltered, to generic status. It is sister to '' Keetia'', a genus that was segregated from ''Canthium'' in 1986.

Species

* ''

Afrocanthium burttii ''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. Taxonomy ''Afrocanthium'' was first r ...

'' ( Bullock)

Lantz __NOTOC__ Lantz may refer to: People * Lantz (surname), a surname of German and Swedish origin * Lantz (given name) Places Canada *Lantz, Nova Scotia Spain * Lantz, Spain, Navarre United States *Lantz, West Virginia * Lantz Arena in Charles ...

* '' Afrocanthium gilfillanii'' ( N.E.Br.) Lantz * '' Afrocanthium keniense'' ( Bullock)

* ''

Afrocanthium kilifiense ''Afrocanthium kilifiense'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 ...

'' ( Bridson)

* '' Afrocanthium lactescens'' (

Hiern Hiern is a British surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Barry Hiern (born 1951), Australian cricketer *Ross Hiern (1922–1999), Australian cricketer *William Philip Hiern (1839–1925), British mathematician and botanist See also * ...

)

* '' Afrocanthium mundianum'' (

Cham. Adelbert von Chamisso (; 30 January 178121 August 1838) was a Germans, German poet and botanist, author of ''Peter Schlemihl'', a famous story about a man who sold his shadow. He was commonly known in French as Adelbert de Chamisso (or Chamissot ...

Schltdl. Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal (27 November 1794, Xanten – 12 October 1866, Halle an der Saale, Halle) was a German botanist. He studied in Berlin, in 1819 becoming curator of the Botanical Garden in Berlin, Royal Herbarium. He was ...

)

* '' Afrocanthium ngonii'' ( Bridson)

* '' Afrocanthium parasiebenlistii'' ( Bridson)

* ''

Afrocanthium peteri ''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. Taxonomy ''Afrocanthium'' was first recognize ...

'' ( Bridson)

* ''

Afrocanthium pseudorandii ''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. Taxonomy ''Afrocanthium'' was first recognize ...

'' ( Bridson)

* '' Afrocanthium pseudoverticillatum'' (

S.Moore Spencer Le Marchant Moore (1 November 1850 – 14 March 1931) was an English botanist. Biography Moore was born in Hampstead. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, from about 1870 to 1879, wrote a number of botanical papers, and then wo ...

)

* '' Afrocanthium racemulosum'' (

)

* ''

Afrocanthium rondoense ''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. Taxonomy ''Afrocanthium'' was first recogniz ...

'' ( Bridson)

* '' Afrocanthium salubenii'' ( Bridson)

* '' Afrocanthium shabanii'' ( Bridson)

* ''

Afrocanthium siebenlistii ''Afrocanthium siebenlistii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Afr ...

'' (

K.Krause Kurt Krause (April 20, 1883 in Potsdam – November 19, 1963 in Berlin) was a German botanist who wrote 33 articles and five books on the flora and vegetation of Turkey about 9300 species of vascular plant were known to grow in Turkey. By comp ...

)

* '' Afrocanthium vollesenii'' ( Bridson)

References

External links

''Afrocanthium'' in the World Checklist of Rubiaceae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4690237 Rubiaceae genera Vanguerieae Taxa named by Birgitta Bremer Taxa named by Diane Mary Bridson