''Flacourtia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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 ...

s in the family

Salicaceae The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly ...

. It was previously placed in the now defunct family

Flacourtiaceae The Flacourtiaceae is a defunct family of flowering plants whose former members have been scattered to various families, mostly to the Achariaceae and Salicaceae. It was so vaguely defined that hardly anything seemed out of place there and it beca ...

. The generic name honors Étienne de Flacourt (1607–1660), a governor of

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 ...

. It contains 15 species of shrubs and small

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, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s that are native to the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referr ...

and subtropics. Several species, especially '' F. indica'', are cultivated as

ornamentals Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

and for their

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s. The trunks of small trees are often guarded by branching spines.

Selected species

* '' Flacourtia indica'' (Burm.f.) Merr. (southern

) * '' Flacourtia inermis'' Roxb.; Batoko plum * '' Flacourtia jangomas'' (Lour.) Raeusch. – Indian coffee plum (

Tropical Asia Tropical Asia refers to the entirety of the areas in Asia with a tropical climate. These areas are of geographic and economic importance due to their natural resources and biodiversity, which include many species of agricultural value. There are ...

) * '' Flacourtia montana'' J.Graham *'' Flacourtia rukam'' Zoll. & Moritzi – Rukam (

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

)

Formerly placed here

*'' Xylosma flexuosa'' (Kunth) Hemsl. (as ''F. flexuosa'' Kunth)

References

External links

* * Salicaceae genera {{Salicaceae-stub