''Leptopus'', the maidenbushes, are 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 ...

of plants in the family

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 m ...

native to southern

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 ...

from the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

east to China and Maluku.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Flora of China Vol. 11 Page 169 雀舌木属 que she mu shu ''Leptopus'' Decaisne in Jacquemont, Voy. Inde. 4(Bot.): 155. 1835.
/ref> The plants are monoecious herbs and shrubs with

simple Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by Johnn ...

entire Entire may refer to: * Entire function, a function that is holomorphic on the whole complex plane * Entire (animal), an indication that an animal is not neutered * Entire (botany) This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of ...

leaves and small, green

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s. ''Leptopus'' is one of eight genera in the tribe

Poranthereae Poranthereae is a tribe in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. It is one of ten tribes in the family, and one of four tribes in the subfamily Phyllanthoideae. Poranthereae comprises about 111 species, distributed into eight genera. The largest gener ...

Petra Hoffmann, Hashendra S. Kathriarachchi, and Kenneth J. Wurdack. 2006. "A Phylogenetic Classification of Phyllanthaceae." ''Kew Bulletin'' 61(1):37-53. and comprises 9

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 ...

. Maria S. Vorontsova and Petra Hoffmann. 2008. "A phylogenetic classification of tribe Poranthereae (Phyllanthaceae)." ''Kew Bulletin'' 63(1):41-59. It is the

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

of ''

Actephila ''Actephila'' is a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae, first described as a genus in 1826. It is one of 8 genera in the tribe Poranthereae, and is most closely related to '' Leptopus''. The name of the genus is derived from two Greek ...

''. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

is '' Leptopus cordifolius''.''Leptopus'' In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In:

Regnum Vegetabile The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and ...

(see ''External links'' below). The name is derived from two

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

words, ''leptos'', "thin, slender, or small", and ''pous'', "foot", a reference to slender

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume II. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington,DC;, USA. London, UK. . The genus was first described in 1836Tropicos, ''Leptopus'' Decne.
/ref> and revised in 2009. Maria S. Vorontsova and Petra Hoffmann. 2009. "Revision of the genus ''Leptopus'' (Phyllanthaceae, Euphorbiaceae sensu lato)". ''Kew Bulletin'' 64(4):627-644. ''Leptopus fangdingianus'' had been placed by some authors in a separate genus, ''Archileptopus'', but it was shown in 2007 that recognition of ''Archileptopus'' makes ''Leptopus'' paraphyletic.Maria S. Vorontsova, Petra Hoffmann, Olivier Maurin, and Mark W. Chase. 2007. "Phylogenetics of tribe Poranthereae (Phyllanthaceae)." ''American Journal of Botany'' 94(12):2026-2040. ''Phyllanthopsis phyllanthoides'' has been placed in ''Leptopus'' as well as in '' Andrachne''. In 2007, it was shown to not properly belong to either genus and in 2008 was assigned to a new genus, '' Phyllanthopsis''. ;Species ;formerly included moved to other genera: '' Chorisandrachne

Euphorbia ''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 ...

Notoleptopus Phyllanthopsis''

References

External links

Leptopus
At:
Index Nominum Genericorum
At:

At:

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2625486 Phyllanthaceae Phyllanthaceae genera Taxa named by Joseph Decaisne