''Petersianthus'' is a genus of

woody plant A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposite to herbaceous plants that die back to the ground until sp ...

in the

Lecythidaceae 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 ...

family first described as a genus in 1865 under the name ''Petersia''. This turned out to be an illegitimate homonym, meaning that it had already been used by someone else to refer to a very different plant. So the name of these species in the

was changed to ''Petersianthus''. It is native to the Philippines and to parts of Africa.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The following two species belong to this genus, with the

basionym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botan ...

s of both taxa belonging to what is known today as the family

Combretaceae The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Myrtales. The family includes about 530 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in ca 10 genera. The family includes the leadwood tree, ''Combre ...

. ;species # ' (syn. ''Combretum macrocarpum'' ) - Guinea, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cabinda, Gabon, Angola # '' Petersianthus quadrialatus'' (syn. ''Terminalia quadrialata'' ) - Philippines

References

Lecythidaceae Ericales genera Taxa named by Elmer Drew Merrill {{Lecythidaceae-stub