''Aphaerema'' was formerly a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the

Flacourtiaceae The Flacourtiaceae is a defunct family of flowering plants whose former members have been scattered to various families, mostly to the Achariaceae and Salicaceae. It was so vaguely defined that hardly anything seemed out of place there and it beca ...

, consisting of one

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of small shrubs, '' Aphaerema spicata'', which is native to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Later studies indicated that ''Aphaerema'' should be classified in the willow family,

Salicaceae The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly ...

, and combined with the genus ''

Abatia ''Abatia'' (syn. ''Raleighia'' Gardner) is a genus of about ten species of Central and South American trees in the family Salicaceae (following the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification). Previously, it was treated in the family Flacourti ...

''.Alford, M.H. 2006. Nomenclatural innovations in neotropical Salicaceae. ''Novon'' 16(3): 293–298. Unfortunately, because the name ''Abatia spicata'' was already used, the species was given the new name ''

Abatia angeliana ''Abatia'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Raleighia'' George Gardner (botanist), Gardner) is a genus of about ten species of Central America, Central and South American trees in the family Salicaceae (following the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classif ...

'', in honor of Brazilian botanist João Angely. ''Aphaerema'' (or ''Abatia'' including ''Aphaerema'') is one of the few groups of Salicaceae with opposite leaves.

References

Salicaceae Historically recognized angiosperm genera Salicaceae genera {{Salicaceae-stub