''Hillia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s 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 ...

Rubiaceae. It has 24

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 ...

.''Hillia'' At: World Checklist of Rubiaceae At: Kew Gardens Website. (see ''External links'' below). All are indigenous to

tropical 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 ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. Most of the species are slightly

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

s or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s. A few are

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Der ...

s or

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a ta ...

s. ''Hillia rivalis'' is a rheophyte. The tissues of all the species contain raphides. The capsules have a beak-like appendage.Charlotte M. Taylor. 1994. "Revision of ''Hillia'' (Rubiaceae)". '' Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden'' 81(4):571-609. ''Hillia triflora'' is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

.Anthony J. Huxley, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (editors). 1992. ''The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening.'' The Macmillan Press Limited, London; The Stockton Press, New York. (set) ''Hillia'' was named by Nicolaus Jacquin in 1760.''Hillia'' in International Plant Names Index. (see ''External links'' below).Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin. 1760. ''Enumeratio systematica plantarum, quas in insulis Caribaeis vicinaque Americes continente detexit nouas, aut iam cognitas emandauit'' pages 3 and 18. (see ''External links'' below). It was named for the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

John Hill John Hill may refer to: Business * John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary * John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter * John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...

(1716-1775).Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume II. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington,DC;, USA. London, UK. (vol. II). (see ''External links'' below). Jacquin named only one species, ''Hillia parasitica''. It has been suggested that the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

as well as the generic name might well be a reference to John Hill. Some authors have placed five of the species in a separate genus, ''Ravnia''. A cladistic analysis of morphological characters found ''Ravnia'' to be embedded within ''Hillia''. This

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...

has not been tested with

molecular data In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succi ...

. The genera ''Hillia'', ''

Balmea ''Balmea'' is a monotypic taxon, monospecific genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing the single species ''Balmea stormiae''. It is native to El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico (Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacán, ...

'', and '' Cosmibuena'' form a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

group. Some authors have designated this group as the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Hillieae, but it might be embedded within another tribe, Hamelieae.Ulrika Manns and Birgitta Bremer. 2010. "Towards a better understanding of intertribal relationships and stable tribal delimitations within Cinchonoideae s.s. (Rubiaceae)". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 56(1):21-39.

Species

The following species list may be incomplete or contain

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

References

External links

''Hillia''Search PageScience DirectoryKew Gardens

''Hillia''Plant NamesIPNI

''Hillia'', page 3''Hillia'', page 18''Enumeratio systematica plantarumTitlesBotanicus

CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: D-LBotany & Plant ScienceLife ScienceCRC Press

''Hillia''List of GeneraRubiaceaeList of familiesFamilies and Genera in GRIN

QueriesGRIN taxonomy for plants

''Hillia''HillieaeCinchonoideaeRubiaceaeEmbryophytaStreptophytinaStreptophytaViridiplantaeEudaryotaTaxonomyUniProt
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5577582 Rubiaceae genera Hillieae