''Claoxylon'' is a

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 ...

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

spurge ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

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 ...

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, e ...

, comprising

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

s to small trees. It was first described as a genus in 1824. The genus is distributed in

paleotropical The Paleotropical Kingdom (Paleotropis) is a floristic kingdom comprising tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), as proposed by Ronald Good and Armen Takhtajan. Part of its flora, inherited from the ancient ...

areas:

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

through

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Half of the species are in

. According to a molecular phylogenetic study by Wurdack, Hoffmann & Chase (2005), ''Claoxylon'' is sister to ''

Erythrococca ''Erythrococca'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described in 1849. It is native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Ar ...

'' (50 species, Africa), and together they form the top of a Hennigian comb-like phylogeny.Forster, P.I. (2007). A taxonomic revision of ''Claoxylon'' A.Juss. (Euphorbiaceae) in Australia. Austrobaileya 7: 451-472. The genus ''Claoxylon'' is usually easily recognizable because the dried leaves in herbariums of most species are rough (few are smooth). ;SpeciesWorld Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> ;Formerly included moved to other genera ''(

Acalypha ''Acalypha'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. It is one of the largest euphorb genera, with approximately 450 to 462 species. The genus name ''Acalypha'' is from th ...

, Croton,

Discoclaoxylon ''Discoclaoxylon'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described in 1914. It is native to western and central Africa, including islands in the Gulf of Guinea.Barberá, P., Velayos, M. & Aedo, C. (2013). Annotated checklist and ide ...

, Lobanilia,

Macaranga ''Macaranga'' is a large genus of Old World tropical trees of the family Euphorbiaceae and the only genus in the subtribe Macaranginae (tribe Acalypheae). Native to Africa, Australasia, Asia and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, ...

Mallotus ''Mallotus'' may refer to: * ''Mallotus'' (fish), a fish genus in the family Osmeridae * ''Mallotus'' (plant), a plant genus in the family Euphorbiaceae {{genus disambiguation ...

Micrococca ''Micrococca'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described in 1849. It is native to tropical Africa, Madagascar and Asia (Old World Tropics).Barberá, P., Velayos, M. & Aedo, C. (2013). Annotated checklist and identification key ...

Orfilea ''Orfilea'' is a plant genus of the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1858. It is native to Madagascar and other islands in the Indian Ocean.Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checkli ...

)''

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5125840 Acalypheae Dioecious plants Euphorbiaceae genera