''Hieronyma'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

in the

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 ...

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 ...

Phyllanthaceae Phyllanthaceae is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae.Kenneth J. Wurdack and Charles C. Davis. 2009. "Malpighiales phylogenetics: Gaining ground on one of the ...

. It was first described as a genus in 1848.Tropicos, ''Hieronyma'' Allemão
/ref> This family was formerly united with

spurge ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

s, crotons, copperleaves, etc. (

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, e ...

), but have turned out to be well distinct. The genus is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, Central America, southern Mexico, and the West Indies.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> 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. The spelling ''Hieronyma'' has been conserved; the spellings ''Hieronima'' and ''Hyeronima'' are spelling variants of this name. ''Hieronyma'' is used locally as a foodplant, e.g. by the Nukak of Guaviare Department in the

Amazon natural region Amazonía region in southern Colombia comprises the Departments of Colombia, departments of Amazonas Department, Amazonas, Caquetá Department, Caquetá, Guainía Department, Guainía, Guaviare Department, Guaviare, Putumayo Department, Putumay ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. Several species are threatened by deforestation. ;Species

References

Phyllanthaceae genera Dioecious plants {{Phyllanthaceae-stub