''Casearia'' is a

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Salicaceae. The genus was included in the Flacourtiaceae under the Cronquist system of

angiosperm 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 ...

classification, and earlier in the

Samydaceae Samydaceae is a family of tropical and subtropical woody plants, its best known genus being ''Casearia''. It has always been of uncertain placement, in the past usually being submerged in the family Flacourtiaceae. A 2002 paper included the Samy ...

. Recent research indicates that the latter group might be reinstated as a valid family. They are sometimes employed as honey plants, notably '' C. decandra'' and '' C. sylvestris''. The latter species is occasionally used as food by the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s of the

two-barred flasher ''Astraptes fulgerator'', the two-barred flasher, is a spread-wing skipper butterfly in the genus '' Astraptes'' which may constitute a possible cryptic species complex. It ranges all over the Americas, from the southern United States to north ...

(''Astraptes fulgerator''). Several species are becoming rare due to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. Some appear close to

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

ion, and '' C. quinduensis'' of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and '' C. tinifolia'' from

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

seem to be extinct since some time in the 20th century and about 1976, respectively.

Selected species

; Names brought to synonymy: * ''Casearia elegans'' Standley, a synonym for '' Casearia bartlettii''

References

External links

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Salicaceae genera Taxa named by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin {{Salicaceae-stub