''Clematoclethra'' is a genus of plants in the family
Actinidiaceae
The Actinidiaceae are a small family of flowering plants. The family has three genera and about 360 species and is a member of the order Ericales.
Distribution
They are temperate and subtropical woody vines, shrubs, and trees, native to Asia ( ...
. It contains about 20 species and is endemic to subtropical and temperate regions of central and western
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Monophyly of the group is supported by genetic evidence and also evidence based on the cell biology of members of the genus.
[ Monophyly of the genus is also supported by micromorphological characters of foliar trichomes and by phylogenetic analysis, although the exact evolutionary relationships of this genus with the other two genera of the Actinidiaceae, the '' Actinidia'' and the '']Saurauia
''Saurauia'' is a genus of plants in the family Actinidiaceae. It comprises about over 300 species distributed in the tropics and subtropics of Asia and South and Central America. Genetic evidence and the cell biology of the group support monophy ...
'', are not well understood.
The floral characteristics of the ''Clematoclethra'' are similar to the other members of the Actinidiaceae. The main floral differences between the ''Clematoclethra'' and the other members of the Actinidiaceae are that members of the ''Clematoclethra'' have 10 stamens instead of numerous stamens, and have a united, hollow, and fluted style as compared to a free style that the other members of the Actinidiaceae have. ''Clematoclethra'' has been described as being 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 ...
[ or having bisexual flowers in the literature.]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q16389285
Actinidiaceae
Ericales genera