''Edgeworthia'' (paper bush) is a genus of plants in the family
Thymelaeaceae
The Thymelaeaceae are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera (listed below) and 898 species.Zachary S. Rogers (2009 onwards)A World Checklist of Thymelaeaceae (version 1) Missouri Botanical Garden Website, St. Louis. It ...
. When the genus was first described, it was published twice in the same year (1841), in two separate publications: ';
[ and ''Denkschriften der Regensburgischen Botanischen Gesellschaft.''][ The genus was named in honour of ]Michael Pakenham Edgeworth
Michael Pakenham Edgeworth (24 May 1812 – 30 July 1881) was an Irish botanist who specialized in seed plants and ferns, and spent most of his life working in India. He was also a pioneer of photography.
Early life and family relations
Edge ...
, an Irish-born botanist and official in the Bengal Civil Service, then stationed in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and for his half-sister, writer Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the ...
.[ In: ''Denkschriften der Regensburgischen Botanischen Gesellschaft.'' ]Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the ...
. iii. (1841) 280. t. 6.
Trichotomous branching
At least one member of the genus, ''Edgeworthia chrysantha
''Edgeworthia chrysantha'' (common names: Oriental paperbush, mitsumata) is a plant in the family Thymelaeaceae.
Etymology
The genus was named in honour of Michael Pakenham Edgeworth (1812–1881), an Irish-born Victorian era amateur botanist, ...
'', has the extremely unusual ability to branch trichotomously - the apical meristem
The meristem is a type of tissue found in plants. It consists of undifferentiated cells (meristematic cells) capable of cell division. Cells in the meristem can develop into all the other tissues and organs that occur in plants. These cells conti ...
forming the end of each stem splits into three sections at once. This trait is shared with no other known 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
Species list from both GRIN
References
Thymelaeoideae
Malvales genera
{{Thymelaeaceae-stub