''Conocarpus'' is a genus of two species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Combretaceae The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, G ...

, native to tropical regions of the world. One of the species is a widespread

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

species, and the other is restricted to a small area around the southern

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

coasts, where it grows alongside seasonal rivers. They are dense multiple-trunked

shrub A shrub or 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 by their multiple ...

s or small to medium-sized

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s from 1 to 20 m tall. The generic name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words κονος (''konos''), meaning "cone" and καρπος (''karpos'') meaning "fruit".

Distribution

''C. erectus'' is native to the coasts of tropical America from Bermuda, the Bahamas, and southern Florida through the West Indies, from Mexico south on the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Atlantic Coasts to Brazil, and on the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands, and on the coast of western Africa from Senegal to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. It has been rarely introduced elsewhere. ''C. lancifolius'' is native to

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

, and is cultivated in eastern and northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

List of species

* ''Conocarpus acuminatus'' Roxb. ex DC. synonym of '' Anogeissus acuminata'' (Roxb. ex DC.) Wall. ex Guillem. & Perr. * ''Conocarpus acutifolius'' Willd. ex Schult. synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. * '' Conocarpus erectus'' L. ** ''C. e.'' var.'' arboreus'' DC. synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. ** ''C. e.'' var.'' argenteus'' Millsp. synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. ** ''C. e.'' f.''erectus'' synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. ** ''C. e.'' var.'' erectus'' synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. ** ''C. e.'' var.'' procumbens'' DC. synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. **''C. e.'' f. ''sericeus'' (E.Forst. ex DC.) Stace synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. ** ''C. e.'' var.'' sericeus'' E.Forst. ex DC. synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. * ''Conocarpus hirtus'' Buch.-Ham. ex Wall. (Unresolved) * ''Conocarpus lanceolatus'' B.Heyne ex Wall. (Unresolved) * '' Conocarpus lancifolius'' Engl. * ''Conocarpus latifolius'' Roxb. ex DC. synonym of ''

Anogeissus latifolia ''Terminalia anogeissiana'' is a species of small to medium-sized trees native to the Indian subcontinent only. Its common names are axlewood (English), ''bakli, baajhi, dhau, dhawa, dhawra, dhawda'', or ''dhaora'' (Hindi). It is one of the mo ...

'' (Roxb. ex DC.) Wall. ex Guillem. & Perr. * ''Conocarpus leiocarpus'' DC. synonym of '' Anogeissus leiocarpa'' (DC.) Guill. & Perr. * ''Conocarpus monocarpus'' Steud. (Unresolved) * ''Conocarpus myrtifolius'' Buch.-Ham. ex Wall. synonym of ''

Anogeissus pendula ''Terminalia pendula'' is an Asian species of tree in the family Combretaceae. It is a medium-sized tree found in both primary and secondary tropical and sub-tropical forests. It is recorded from India to China, south to Thailand and Vietnam. It ...

'' Edgew. * ''Conocarpus niloticus'' Delile ex Steud. (Unresolved) * ''Conocarpus novae-zeylandiae'' Cels ex Ten. (Unresolved) * ''Conocarpus parvifolius'' Hochst. ex A.Rich. (Unresolved) * ''Conocarpus procumbens'' L. synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. * ''Conocarpus pubescens'' Schumach. & Thonn. (Unresolved) * ''Conocarpus racemosus'' L. synonym of ''Laguncularia racemosa'' (L.) C.F.Gaertn. * ''Conocarpus schimperi'' Hochst. ex A.Rich. synonym of '' Anogeissus leiocarpa'' (DC.) Guill. & Perr. * ''Conocarpus sericeus'' J.R.Forst. ex G.Don synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. * ''Conocarpus sericeus'' (Griseb.) Jiménez synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L. * ''Conocarpus supina'' Crantz synonym of ''Conocarpus erectus'' L.

Formerly placed here

*'' Anogeissus acuminata'' (Roxb. ex DC.) Wall. ex Guill. & Perr. (as ''C. acuminatus'' Roxb. ex DC.) *''

'' (Roxb. ex DC.) Wall. ex Guill. & Perr. (as ''C. latifolius'' Roxb. ex DC.) *'' Anogeissus leiocarpa'' (DC.) Guill. & Perr. (as ''C. leiocarpus'' DC.) *''

'' Edgew. *''

Laguncularia racemosa ''Laguncularia'' is a genus of plants in the family Combretaceae. The only species in the genus is ''Laguncularia racemosa'', the white mangrove. It is native to the coasts of western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, the Atlantic Coast of the Am ...

'' (L.) C.F.Gaertn. (as ''C. racemosus'' L.)

References

{{Authority control Myrtales genera