![Paleotrópico](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Paleotr%C3%B3pico.png)
The Paleotropical Kingdom (Paleotropis) is a
floristic kingdom
A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both re ...
comprising tropical areas 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 ...
,
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 area ...
and
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
(excluding
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
), as proposed by
Ronald Good
Ronald D'Oyley Good (5 March 1896 – 11 December 1992) was a British Botany, botanist notable for his Phytochorion, floristic regionalization.
Good was born in Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. He studied botany at Downing College, Cambridge, ...
and
Armen Takhtajan
Armen Leonovich Takhtajan or Takhtajian ( hy, Արմեն Լևոնի Թախտաջյան; russian: Армен Леонович Тахтаджян; surname also transliterated Takhtadjan, Takhtadzhi︠a︡n or Takhtadzhian, pronounced takh-tuh-JA ...
. Part of its flora, inherited from the ancient supercontinent of
Gondwana
Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...
or exchanged later (e.g.
Piperaceae
The Piperaceae (), also known as the pepper family, are a large family of flowering plants. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in 5 genera. The vast majority of species can be found within the two main genera: ''Piper'' ( ...
with pantropical distribution and but few warm temperate representatives), is shared with the
Neotropical Kingdom, comprising tropical areas of
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
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 ...
. Moreover, the Paleotropical flora influenced the tropical flora of the
Australian Kingdom
The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 30,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwan ...
. The Paleotropical Kingdom is subdivided into five floristic subkingdoms according to Takhtajan (or three, according to Good) and about 13
floristic regions
A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both r ...
. In this article the floristic subkingdoms and regions are given as delineated by Takhtajan.
Origin
A distinct community of
vascular plant
Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...
s evolved millions of years ago, and are now found on several separate areas.
Millions of years ago, the warmer and wetter areas supported a tropical adapted flora, including forests of
podocarps
Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pr ...
and
southern beech
''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...
. They were a type of flora characteristic of parts of
Gondwana
Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...
but were present in equivalent ecological areas.
Over millions of years, these type of vegetation present, covered much of the
tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
of
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. Many species are today
relict
A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.
Biology
A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas.
Geology and geomorphology
In geology, a r ...
s of a type of
vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...
disappeared, which originally covered much of the mainland of Africa, Madagascar, India, South America, Antarctica,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, North America, Europe, and other lands when their
climate
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...
were more
humid
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depen ...
and warm. Although warm
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 ...
s disappeared during the glaciations, they re-colonized large areas every time the weather was favorable again. Most of the cloud forests are believed to have retreated and advanced during successive geological eras, and their species adapted to warm and wet gradually retreated and advanced, replaced by more
cold
Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...
-tolerant or
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
-tolerant
sclerophyll
Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaf, leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is paral ...
plant communities. Many of the existing species became extinct because they could not cross the barriers posed by new oceans, mountains and deserts, but others found refuge as species relict in coastal areas and Islands.
In the
Carboniferous
The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...
and
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...
, New Zealand and New Caledonia were on the periphery of Gondwana, which included Africa, South America, Antarctica, India, New Zealand and Australia. Paleomagnetic data locate New Caledonia originally near the
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
. In the
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
and early
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
, Gondwana moved northward, warming the eastern margin.
New Caledonia separated from
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
during the breakup of the super-continent, separating from Australia at the end of the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
(66
mya) and probably completing its separation from New Zealand in the mid-
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
.
The ecological requirements of many of the species, are those of the laurel forest and like most of their counterparts laurifolia in the world, they are vigorous species with a great ability to populate the habitat that is conducive.
The geographical isolation and special edaphic conditions helped to preserve it too.
Many members of the late Cretaceous – early Tertiary Gondwanan flora survived in islands and Coastal area's equable climate but were eliminated in mainland due to increasingly dry conditions.
When the large landmasses became drier and with a harsher climate, this type of forest was reduced to those boundaries areas.
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
, Chile, New Zealand and New Caledonia share related species extinct in Australia mainland. The same case occurs in the Atlantic
Macaronesia
Macaronesia (Portuguese: ''Macaronésia,'' Spanish: ''Macaronesia'') is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the North Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of List of islands in the At ...
islands and Pacific
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 ...
,
Hainan
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
,
Jeju
Jeju may refer to:
* Jeju Island (Jejudo), an island near South Korea
* Jeju Province (formerly transliterated Cheju), a province of South Korea comprising Jejudo
**Jeju City, the biggest city on Jejudo
**Jeju dog, a dog native to Jejudo
** Jeju l ...
,
Shikoku
is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...
,
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
, and
Ryūkyū 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 ...
. Although some remnants of archaic rich flora still persisted in their coastal mountains and shelter sites, their biodiversity were reduced. The location of Islands in the oceans moderated these climatic fluctuations, and maintained the relatively humid and mild climate which has allowed these communities to persist to the present day.
Plants have limited ''
seed dispersal
In Spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant.
Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, ...
'' mobility away from the parent plant and consequently rely upon a variety of
dispersal vector
A dispersal vector is an agent of biological dispersal that moves a dispersal unit, or organism, away from its birth population to another location or population in which the individual will reproduce. These dispersal units can range from pollen t ...
s to transport their propagules, including both
abiotic
In biology and ecology, abiotic components or abiotic factors are non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems. Abiotic factors and the phenomena associated with them under ...
and
biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant individually or collectively, as well as dispersed in both space and time. Tertiary vegetal species isolated on islands have led to vicariant species; genera and families extinct in the rest of the world have been preserved as island endemics.
For example, genera, ''
Archeria'' in
Ericaceae
The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...
, or ''
Wollemia
''Wollemia'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae. It was known only through fossil records until 1994, when the Australian species ''Wollemia nobilis'' was discovered in a temperate rainforest wilderness area of the Wollemi ...
'' in the family
Araucariaceae
Araucariaceae – also known as araucarians – is an extremely ancient family of coniferous trees. The family achieved its maximum diversity during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and the early Cenozoic, when it was distributed almost worldw ...
, was known only from fossil remains before the discovery of the living species in 1994 in a temperate
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
wilderness area of the
Wollemi National Park
The Wollemi National Park () is a protected national park and wilderness area that is located in the northern Blue Mountains and Lower Hunter regions of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The park, the second largest national park in New S ...
in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, in a remote series of narrow, steep-sided sandstone
gorge
A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...
s near
Lithgow.
Fossils dating from before the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...
glaciation
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
s show that species of ''
Laurus
''Laurus'' () is a genus of evergreen trees or shrubs belonging to the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus contains three or more species, including the bay laurel or sweet bay, ''L. nobilis'', widely cultivated as an ornamental plant and a cul ...
'' were formerly distributed more widely around the Mediterranean and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, isolated gave rise to ''
Laurus azorica
''Laurus azorica'', the Azores laurel or Macaronesian laurel, is a small, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae), found only on the Azores island group in the North Atlantic.
Description
The Azores laurel is a small dioecious tree, grow ...
'' in Azores Islands, ''
Laurus nobilis
''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. ...
'' in mainland and ''
Laurus novocanariensis
''Laurus novocanariensis'' is a large shrub or tree with aromatic, shiny dark-green foliage. belonging to the evergreen tree genus ''Laurus'' of the laurel family, Lauraceae. The genus includes three species, whose diagnostic key characters ofte ...
'' in Canary Islands.
Flora
The paleotropical
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
is characterized by about 40
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
plant
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
, the most famous being
Nepenthaceae,
Musaceae,
Pandanaceae
Pandanaceae is a family of flowering plants native to the tropics and subtropics of the Old World, from West Africa through the Pacific. It contains 982 known species in five genera, of which the type genus, ''Pandanus'', is the most important, wi ...
and
Flagellariaceae
''Flagellaria'' is the sole genus in the flowering plant family (biology), family Flagellariaceae with only five species.Wepfer, P. H., & Linder, H. P. (2014). The taxonomy of Flagellaria (Flagellariaceae). Australian Systematic Botany, 27(3), 15 ...
, but including also
Matoniaceae
Matoniaceae is one of the three families of ferns in the Gleicheniales order of the Polypodiopsida class. Fossil records reveal that Matoniaceae ferns were abundant during the Mesozoic era (about 250-million to 66-million years ago), during which ...
,
Dipteridaceae
The Dipteridaceae is a family (biology), family of ferns in the order Gleicheniales of the class Polypodiopsida. They are commonly known as umbrella ferns and contain two genera, ''Cheiropleuria'' and ''Dipteris'', with a total of nine species c ...
,
Stangeriaceae
Stangeriaceae is the smallest family of the cycads, including only two extant genera, '' Stangeria'' and ''Bowenia'', which both have an underground stem.
Taxonomy
Although the family was first published by Schimper and Schenk as Stangerieae, t ...
,
Welwitschiaceae
Welwitschiaceae is a family of plants of the order Gnetales with one living species, ''Welwitschia mirabilis'', found in southwestern Africa. Three fossil genera have been recovered from the Crato Formation – late Aptian (Lower Cretaceous) str ...
,
Degeneriaceae
''Degeneria'' is a genus of flowering plants endemic to Fiji. It is the only genus in the family Degeneriaceae. The APG IV system of 2016 (unchanged from the APG system of 1998, the APG II system of 2003 and the APG III system of 2009), recogniz ...
,
Rafflesiaceae
The Rafflesiaceae are a family of rare parasitic plants comprising 36 species in 3 genera found in the tropical forests of east and southeast Asia, including ''Rafflesia arnoldii'', which has the largest flowers of all plants. The plants are en ...
,
Didiereaceae
Didiereaceae is a family of flowering plants found in continental Africa and Madagascar.
It contains 20 species classified in three subfamilies and six genera. Species of the family are succulent plants, growing in sub-arid to arid habitats. Seve ...
,
Didymelaceae
''Didymeles'' is a genus of flowering plants. It is variously treated as the only genus of the family Didymelaceae — or in the family Buxaceae, as in the APG IV system.
The genus ''Didymeles'' is restricted to Madagascar and the Comoros. In M ...
,
Ancistrocladaceae
''Ancistrocladus'' is a genus of woody lianas in the monotypic family ''Ancistrocladaceae''. The branches climb by twining other stems or by scrambling with hooked tips. They are found in the tropics of the Old World.
Classification
The APG II ...
,
Dioncophyllaceae
The Dioncophyllaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of three species of lianas native to the rainforests of western Africa.
Their closest relatives are Ancistrocladaceae. Both families lie within a clade of mostly ...
, Scytopetalaceae (''Scytopetalum''),
Medusagynaceae, Scyphostegiaceae (''Scyphostegia''),
Sarcolaenaceae
The Sarcolaenaceae are a family of flowering plants endemic to Madagascar. The family includes 79 species of mostly evergreen trees and shrubs in ten genera.
Recent DNA studies indicate that the Sarcolaenaceae are a sibling taxon to the family ...
,
Sphaerosepalaceae
The Sphaerosepalaceae are a family of flowering plants including 14 species of trees and shrubs in two genera, '' Dialyceras'' and '' Rhopalocarpus'', all of which are endemic to Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially ...
,
Huaceae
Huaceae is a family of plant in the rosids group, which has been classed in the orders Malpighiales, Malvales, and Violales or in its own order Huales. The APG II system placed it in the clade eurosids I, whereas the APG III system of 2009 and ...
,
Pandaceae
The family Pandaceae consists of three genera that were formerly recognized in the Euphorbiaceae. Those are:
*''Galearia'' (from tribe Galearieae, subfamily Acalyphoideae, family Euphorbiaceae)
*''Microdesmis'' (from tribe Galearieae, subfamily ...
,
Crypteroniaceae,
Duabangaceae, Strephonemataceae (''Strephonema''),
Psiloxylaceae
''Psiloxylon mauritianum'' (known locally as "bois bigaignon") is a species of flowering plant, the sole species of the genus ''Psiloxylon''. It is endemic to the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius and Réunion) in the Indian Ocean.
It is a white-ba ...
,
Dirachmaceae
''Dirachma'' is the sole genus of the family Dirachmaceae. The genus had been monotypic, its sole species being the woody plant ''Dirachma socotrana'', until a second, herbaceous, species, ''Dirachma somalensis'', was discovered in Somalia
...
,
Phellinaceae
''Phelline'' is a genus of shrubs and the sole member of the family Phellinaceae, a family of flowering plants endemic to New Caledonia. It is placed in the order Asterales and is related to two other small plant families: Alseuosmiaceae and Arg ...
,
Lophopyxidaceae,
Salvadoraceae
Salvadoraceae is a family in the plant order Brassicales,, p. 10 consisting of three genera with a total of 11 known species. They occur in Africa (including Madagascar), Southeast Asia, and on Java, suggesting they are probably found in much of ...
,
Medusandraceae, Mastixiaceae (''
Mastixia
''Mastixia'' is a genus of about 19 species of resinous evergreen trees, usually placed in the family Cornaceae. Its range extends from India through Southeast Asia and New Guinea to the Solomon Islands. ''Mastixia'' species have alternate or opp ...
''), Hoplestigmataceae (''
Hoplestigma'') and
Lowiaceae
''Orchidantha'' is a genus of flowering plants. In the APG III system, it is placed in the family Lowiaceae, as the sole genus. It includes the plants in the formerly recognised genera ''Lowia'' and ''Protamomum''.
''Orchidantha'' remains a poo ...
.
[Takhtajan, A. (1986). ''Floristic Regions of the World''. (translated by T.J. Crovello & A. Cronquist). University of California Press, Berkeley]
PDF
DjVu
Subdivisions
African Subkingdom
10 endemic families (incl.
Dioncophyllaceae
The Dioncophyllaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of three species of lianas native to the rainforests of western Africa.
Their closest relatives are Ancistrocladaceae. Both families lie within a clade of mostly ...
,
Pentadiplandraceae
''Pentadiplandra brazzeana'' is an evergreen shrub or liana that is the only species assigned to the genus ''Pentadiplandra'', and has been placed in a family of its own called Pentadiplandraceae. It produces large red berries, sometimes mottled ...
,
Scytopetalaceae
The Lecythidaceae comprise a family (biology), family of about 20 genera and 250–300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa (including Madagascar), Asia and Australia.
The most important member of the family in wor ...
,
Medusandraceae,
Dirachmaceae
''Dirachma'' is the sole genus of the family Dirachmaceae. The genus had been monotypic, its sole species being the woody plant ''Dirachma socotrana'', until a second, herbaceous, species, ''Dirachma somalensis'', was discovered in Somalia
...
,
Kirkiaceae
Kirkiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. It comprises one (or two) genera, ''Kirkia'' (and '' Pleiokirkia'' now included in ''Kirkia''), totalling six species. These two genera were previously placed in family Simarouba ...
), many endemic genera.
#
Guineo-Congolian Province
#
Usambara-Zululand Region
#
Sudano-Zambezian Region (including tropical Asia west of the
Gulf of Khambhat
The Gulf of Khambhat, historically known as the Gulf of Cambay, is a bay on the Arabian Sea coast of India, bordering the state of Gujarat just north of Mumbai and Diu Island. The Gulf of Khambhat is about long, about wide in the north and u ...
)
#
Karoo-Namib Region
#
St. Helena and Ascension Region
Madagascan Subkingdom
9 endemic families, more than 450 endemic genera, about 80% endemic species. It ceased to be influenced by the African flora in the
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
, but underwent heavy influence of the Indian Region's flora.
#
Madagascan Region
Malagasy may refer to:
*Someone or something from Madagascar
*Malagasy people
*Malagasy language
* Malagasy Republic
*Related to the culture of Madagascar
See also
*Madagascar (disambiguation)
Madagascar is an island country located off the eas ...
Indo-Malesian Subkingdom
11 endemic families (incl.
Degeneriaceae
''Degeneria'' is a genus of flowering plants endemic to Fiji. It is the only genus in the family Degeneriaceae. The APG IV system of 2016 (unchanged from the APG system of 1998, the APG II system of 2003 and the APG III system of 2009), recogniz ...
,
Barclayaceae
''Barclaya'' is a genus of 3 - 4 species of flowering plants of the family Nymphaeaceae. ''Barclaya'' are aquatic plants native to tropical Asia. The genus was named in honour of the American-born English brewer and patron of science Robert Barcl ...
,
Mastixiaceae) and many endemic genera
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Indian Region
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
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Indochinese Region
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Malesian Region
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Fijian Region
Polynesian Subkingdom
No endemic families, many endemic genera. The flora is mostly derivative from that of the Indo-Malesian Subkingdom.
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Polynesian Region
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Hawaiian Region
Neocaledonian Subkingdom
New Caledonia
)
, anthem = ""
, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
lies on the southernmost edge of the tropical zone, near the
Tropic of Capricorn
The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reac ...
.
This flora originated on the supercontinent Gondwana, and persist in current day New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and South America. This flora is fossil in Antarctica. The ''
biodiversity of New Caledonia
The biodiversity of New Caledonia is of exceptional biological and paleoecological interest. It is frequently referred to as a biodiversity hotspot.Myers, Norman; Mittermeier, Russell A. ; Mittermeier, Cristina G.; da Fonseca, Gustavo A. B.; Ke ...
'' include several endemic families (incl.
Amborellaceae
''Amborella'' is a monotypic genus of understory shrubs or small trees endemic to the main island, Grande Terre, of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The genus is the only member of the family Amborellaceae and the order Amborellale ...
,
Strasburgeriaceae
Strasburgeriaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Crossosomatales, only found in New Zealand and New Caledonia. It contains two genera, '' Strasburgeria'' and ''Ixerba''. Both genera have simple, evergreen, alternated leaves, o ...
) and more than 130 endemic genera (incl. ''
Exospermum'' and ''
Zygogynum
''Zygogynum'' is a genus of plant in the winter's bark family Winteraceae. 19 species are native to New Caledonia, and are pollinated primarily by beetles and moths. Other species are native to New Guinea (21 species), the Bismarck Archipelago ...
''). The flora is partially shared with the Indo-Malesian Subkingdom and the
Australian Kingdom
The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 30,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwan ...
.
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Neocaledonian Region
See also
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References
{{floristic regions
Floristic kingdoms
de:Paläotropis