''Dombeya acutangula'', the bois bete or ''mahot tantan'', 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 ...

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 ...

found only in

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 ...

and

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

. Formerly placed 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 ...

Sterculiaceae Sterculiaceae was a family of flowering plant based on the genus ''Sterculia''. Genera formerly included in Sterculiaceae are now placed in the family Malvaceae, in the subfamilies: Byttnerioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae and Sterculioideae. A ...

, this artificial assemblage is now included in the

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

by most authors. It has charming pale (white or light pink) flowers in small clusters. The natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical dry

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s but it is almost

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 ...

due to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

; some 50 plants remain in the wild, growing in a narrowly circumscribed area at

Corps de garde Corps de Garde (translation: ''Guard Corpse'') is a 720-metre-high mountain of volcanic origin, in the area Palma in the Black River district of Mauritius. The name derived from the fact that a French military post was once established on its slope ...

, Trois Mamelles,

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

Magenta Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish-red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish-crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and blue. I ...

and

Chamarel Chamarel is a village in Mauritius located in Rivière Noire District, the eastern part of the village also lies in the Savanne District. The village is administered by the Chamarel Village Council under the aegis of the Rivière Noire District C ...

Systematics

Bois bete was sometimes placed in '' Pentapetes''. It is somewhat variable and thus was described under a number of names, which are now considered

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

s: * ''Pentapetes acutangula'' Poir. * ''Pentapetes angulosa'' Poir. * ''Pentapetes palmata'' Poir. This species is rather isolated among its congeners and may belong to the more basal members of its genus. It differs both from the "

xeric Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

forest" group of Mascarene ''Dombeya'' (e.g. '' D. mauritiana'' and '' D. rodriguesiana'') and the "

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

group" (e.g. '' D. blattiolens'' and '' D. ciliata'').Cao ''et al.'' (2006)

Footnotes

References

* (2006): Does minimizing homoplasy really maximize homology? MaHo: A method for evaluating homology among most parsimonious trees. '' C. R. Palevol'' 7(1): 17–26. (HTML abstract) * (2008)
Partial Synonymy of ''Dombeya''
Retrieved 2008-JUN-25. acutangula Critically endangered plants Flora of Réunion Flora of Mauritius Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles {{Malvaceae-stub