''Meliosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sabiaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern and eastern Asia and the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. It is traditionally considered to contain about 100 species; some botanists take a much more conservative view accepting only 20-25 species as distinct. They are trees or

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s, growing to 10–45 m tall. Fossil evidence shows the genus formerly had a much wider range in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

, including Europe and central Asia until the late Pliocene ice ages, and somewhat earlier in North America. Meliosma symbolises Peruvian

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

plants which, once did not have even a single species of Sabiaceae. Now,at least 17 species of Meliosma are known from Peru. The

Indian awlking ''Choaspes benjaminii'',Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera - page on genu/ref>TOL web page on genu''Choaspes''/ref>also known as the Indian awlking or common awlking, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. The species is named ...

(''Choaspes benjaminii'') is one of the

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

whose caterpillars feed on ''Meliosma''; they have been found on '' M. pungens'', '' rhoifolia'', '' M. rigida'', and '' M. squamulata''.

Selected species

Asia * '' Meliosma angustifolia'' * '' Meliosma arnottiana'' (syn. ''Wellingtonia arnottiana'') * '' Meliosma beaniana'' * '' Meliosma bifida'' * '' Meliosma callicarpaefolia'' * '' Meliosma cuneifolia'' * '' Meliosma dentata'' * '' Meliosma dilleniifolia'' * '' Meliosma dumicola'' * '' Meliosma flexuosa'' * '' Meliosma fordii'' * '' Meliosma glandulosa'' * ''

Meliosma henryi ''Meliosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sabiaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. It is traditionally considered to contain about 100 species; some botanists take a ...

'' * '' Meliosma kirkii'' * '' Meliosma laui'' * '' Meliosma longipes'' * ''

Meliosma myriantha ''Meliosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sabiaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. It is traditionally considered to contain about 100 species; some botanists take a ...

'' * ''

Meliosma oldhamii ''Meliosma oldhamii'' is a species of deciduous tree in the family Sabiaceae, which grows up to 20 meters in height. It has a narrow crown when young, and it becomes more wide-spreading with age. It is endemic to China, Japan Japan ( ...

'' * '' Meliosma parviflora'' * '' Meliosma paupera'' * ''

Meliosma pinnata ''Meliosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sabiaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. It is traditionally considered to contain about 100 species; some botanists take a ...

'' * '' Meliosma pungens'' * '' Meliosma rhoifolia'' * ''

Meliosma rigida ''Meliosma rigida'', the stiff-leaved meliosma, is a species of flowering plant in the family Sabiaceae Sabiaceae is a family of flowering plants that were placed in the order Proteales according to the APG IV system. It comprises three gener ...

'' * ''

Meliosma simplicifolia ''Meliosma simplicifolia'' is a species of plant in the family Sabiaceae Sabiaceae is a family of flowering plants that were placed in the order Proteales according to the APG IV system. It comprises three genera, '' Meliosma'', '' Ophiocaryo ...

'' * '' Meliosma squamulata'' * '' Meliosma sumatrana'' * '' Meliosma thomsonii'' * '' Meliosma thorelii'' * '' Meliosma veitchiorum'' * '' Meliosma velutina'' * '' Meliosma yunnanensis'' Americas * ''

Meliosma alba ''Meliosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sabiaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. It is traditionally considered to contain about 100 species; some botanists take a ...

'' * †'' Meliosma beusekomii'' * '' Meliosma bogotana'' * '' Meliosma brasiliensis''

Urb. Ignatz Urban (7 January 1848 – 7 January 1931) was a German botanist. He is known for his contributions to the flora of the Caribbean and Brazil, and for his work as curator of the Berlin Botanical Garden. Born the son of a brewer, Urban s ...

* '' Meliosma cordata'' * '' Meliosma frondosa'' * '' Meliosma glaziovii'' * ''

Meliosma herbertii ''Meliosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sabiaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. It is traditionally considered to contain about 100 species; some botanists ta ...

'' * '' Meliosma itatiaiae'' * '' Meliosma linearifolia'' * ''

Meliosma littlei ''Meliosma littlei'' is a species of plant in the Sabiaceae family. It is endemic to Ecuador. References Flora of Ecuador littlei Endangered plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{eudicot-stub ...

'' * '' Meliosma meridensis'' * ''

Meliosma nesites ''Meliosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sabiaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. It is traditionally considered to contain about 100 species; some botanists take a ...

'' * '' Meliosma sellowii'' * ''

Meliosma sinuata ''Meliosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sabiaceae, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. It is traditionally considered to contain about 100 species; some botanists ta ...

'' * '' Meliosma sirensis'' * ''

Meliosma vernicosa ''Meliosma vernicosa'' is a tropical tree in the family '' Sabiaceae''. It is a canopy tree of the cloud forest that reaches 20 to 25 meters tall. It prefers elevations of 1500 to 1700 meters. It is found in Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ...

'' * '' Meliosma youngii''

Fossil record

Fossil endocarps from the early Miocene of '' Meliosma wetteraviensis'', have been found in the Czech part of the Zittau Basin.

Stratigraphical Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostrati ...

range of this taxon is from the late

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

to Pliocene of Western Europe and Siberia. Acta Palaeobotanica - 43(1): 9-49, January 2003 - Early Miocene carpological material from the Czech part of the Zittau Basin - Vasilis Teodoridis

Footnotes

References

* (1971): Revision of ''Meliosma'' (Sabiaceae), section ''Lorenzanea'' excepted, living and fossil, geography and phylogeny. ''Blumea'' 19: 355–529.

External links

Flora of Pakistan: ''Meliosma''Flora of China: ''Meliosma'' species listFlora of Ecuador: ''Meliosma''IAC Herbarium (Brazil): ''Meliosma'' species list
Eudicot genera {{eudicot-stub