''Micropholis'' is group of trees in the

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 ...

Sapotaceae 240px, '' Madhuca longifolia'' var. ''latifolia'' in Narsapur, Medak district, India The Sapotaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants belonging to the order (biology), order Ericales. The family includes about 800 species of ev ...

, described as a genus in 1891.Tropicos, ''Micropholis'' (Griseb.) Pierre
/ref> (2001): World Checklist of Sapotaceae &ndash
''Micropholis''
The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2008-DEC-24. These trees are native to tropical

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 ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

, and the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. Most are locally known as ''"cafetos"'', literally meaning "

coffee plant ''Coffea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. ''Coffea'' species are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. The seeds of some species, called coffee beans, are used to flavor variou ...

s". But while both ''Micropholis'' and the coffeeplant genus ''

Coffea ''Coffea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Family (biology), family Rubiaceae. ''Coffea'' species are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. The seeds of some species, called coffee beans, are use ...

'' are

asterid In the APG IV system (2016) for the classification of flowering plants, the name asterids denotes a clade (a monophyletic group). Asterids is the largest group of flowering plants, with more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total floweri ...

s, the present genus is part of the

Ericales The Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledons. Species in this order have considerable commercial importance including for Camellia sinensis, tea, persimmon, blueberry, kiwifruit, Brazil nuts, Argania, argan, and azalea. The order i ...

– a quite basal asterid lineage –, while ''Coffea'' belongs to the more advanced

Gentianales Gentianales is an order of flowering plants, included within the asterid clade of eudicots. It comprises more than 20,000 species in about 1,200 genera in 5 families. More than 80% of the species in this order belong to the family Rubiaceae. Ma ...

. They are valued for their wood, which is used as

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, for construction and as

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...

; many species are threatened by

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term app ...

and

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. Also, they are often used as part of

catuaba The name Catuaba ( , via Portuguese from Guarani) is used for the infusions of the bark of a number of trees native to Brazil. The most widely used barks are derived from the trees ''Trichilia catigua'' and '' Erythroxylum vaccinifolium''. Other ...

, a decoction from various tree's bark claimed to have

aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. Substances range from a variety of plants, spices, foods, and synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs like cannabis or cocain ...

and

stimulant Stimulants (also often referred to as psychostimulants or colloquially as uppers) is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the central nervous system and the body, drugs that are pleasurable and inv ...

properties. '' Caimitillo verde'' (''M. garciniifolia'') is an important food source of the nearly-

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Puerto Rican amazon The Puerto Rican amazon (''Amazona vittata''), also known as the Puerto Rican parrot (Puerto Rican Spanish: ''cotorra puertorriqueña'') or ''iguaca'', is the only extant parrot endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico, and belongs to the Neo ...

bird (''Amazona vittata''). ;SpeciesKew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>

References

Sapotaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Sapotaceae-stub