Gymnosporia tenuispina, droë vrugte, Eugene Marais Park

''Gymnosporia'' is an

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

genus of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s, that comprise suffrutices, shrubs and trees. It was formerly considered congeneric with ''

Maytenus ''Maytenus'' ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. Members of the genus are distributed throughout Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Micronesia and Australasia, the Indi ...

'', but more recent investigations separated it based on the presence of achyblasts (truncated branchlets) and spines, alternate leaves or fascicles of leaves, an inflorescence that forms a dichasium, mostly unisexual flowers, and fruit forming a dehiscent capsule, with an

aril An aril (pronounced ), also called an arillus, is a specialized outgrowth from a seed that partly or completely covers the seed. An arillode or false aril is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the see ...

on the seed. It is

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 ...

, with male and female flowers on separate plants.

Range

The genus occurs in all of

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 ...

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 ...

and adjacent islands, southern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

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 ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, southern

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 ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

, and in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

the two main centers of diversity are in the south and the northeast.

Species

The genus includes some 114 species: * ''

Gymnosporia acuminata ''Gymnosporia'' is an Old World genus of plants, that comprise suffrutices, shrubs and trees. It was formerly considered congeneric with ''Maytenus'', but more recent investigations separated it based on the presence of achyblasts (truncated bran ...

'' Hook.f. ex M.A.Lawson * '' Gymnosporia addat'' Loes. * '' Gymnosporia alaternifolia'' (Tul.) Loes. * '' Gymnosporia annobonensis'' Loes. & Mildbr. * '' Gymnosporia arbutifolia'' (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Loes. * '' Gymnosporia arenicola'' Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia austroyunnanensis'' (S.J.Pei & Y.H.Li) M.P.Simmons * ''

Gymnosporia bachmannii ''Gymnosporia bachmannii'' is a species of plant in the family Celastraceae. It is endemic to South Africa. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a nat ...

Gymnosporia montana ''Gymnosporia'' is an Old World genus of plants, that comprise suffrutices, shrubs and trees. It was formerly considered congeneric with ''Maytenus'', but more recent investigations separated it based on the presence of achyblasts (truncated bran ...

'' (Roth) Benth. * '' Gymnosporia mossambicensis'' (Klotzsch) Loes. * '' Gymnosporia neglecta'' M.A.Lawson * '' Gymnosporia nemorosa'' (Eckl. & Zeyh.) Szyszyl. * '' Gymnosporia nguruensis'' (N.Robson & Sebsebe) Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia nitida'' Merr. * '' Gymnosporia obbiadensis'' Chiov. * '' Gymnosporia obscura'' (A.Rich.) Loes. * '' Gymnosporia orbiculata'' (C.Y.Wu ex S.J.Pei & Y.H.Li) Q.R.Liu & * '' Gymnosporia ovata'' (Wall. ex Wight & Arn.) M.A.Lawson * '' Gymnosporia oxycarpa'' (N.Robson) Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia pallida'' Collett & Hemsl. * '' Gymnosporia parviflora'' (Vahl) Chiov. * '' Gymnosporia pertinax'' (N.Hallé & J.Florence) M.P.Simmons * '' Gymnosporia polyacanthus'' Szyszyl. * '' Gymnosporia puberula'' M.A.Lawson * '' Gymnosporia pubescens'' (N.Robson) Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia punctata'' (Sebsebe) Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia putterlickioides'' Loes. * '' Gymnosporia pyria'' (Willemet) Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia richardsiae'' (N.Robson & Sebsebe) Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia rothiana'' (Walp.) M.A.Lawson * '' Gymnosporia royleana'' Wall. ex M.A.Lawson * '' Gymnosporia rubra'' (Harv.) Loes. * '' Gymnosporia rufa'' (Wall.) Hook.f. * '' Gymnosporia salicifolia'' M.A.Lawson * '' Gymnosporia schliebenii'' Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia senegalensis'' (Lam.) Loes. * '' Gymnosporia serrata'' (Hochst. ex A.Rich.) Loes. * '' Gymnosporia sikkimensis'' Prain * '' Gymnosporia somalensis'' Loes. * '' Gymnosporia spinosa'' (Blanco) Merr. & Rolfe * '' Gymnosporia stylosa'' Pierre * '' Gymnosporia swazica'' Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia tenuispina'' (Sond.) Szyszyl. * '' Gymnosporia thompsonii'' Merr. * '' Gymnosporia thomsonii'' Kurz * '' Gymnosporia thyrsiflora'' (S.J.Pei & Y.H.Li) W.B.Yu & D.Z.Li * '' Gymnosporia tiaoloshanensis'' Chun & F.C.How * '' Gymnosporia trilocularis'' Hayata * '' Gymnosporia uniflora'' Davison * '' Gymnosporia vanwykii'' (R.H.Archer) Jordaan * '' Gymnosporia variabilis'' (Hemsl.) Loes. * '' Gymnosporia wallichiana'' (Spreng.) M.A.Lawson * '' Gymnosporia woodii'' Szyszyl.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3643320 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Celastrales genera Taxa named by Robert Wight Dioecious plants