''Spirostachys'' is a

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of the

family 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. Idea ...

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...

first described as a genus in 1850. It is native to

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 ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Zuloaga, F. O., O. Morrone, M. J. Belgrano, C. Marticorena & E. Marchesi. (eds.) 2008. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares del Cono Sur. Monographs in systematic botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 107(1–3): i–xcvi, 1–3348. The genus name is derived from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''speiros'' = spiral, ''stachys'' = spike, in allusion to the spiral arrangement of the florets on the flower spike. ;Species # '' Spirostachys africana'' Sond. - E + SE + S Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland,

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Province) # '' Spirostachys venenifera'' (Pax) Pax - Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania ;formerly included moved to other genera ''(

Excoecaria ''Excoecaria'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, formally described by Linnaeus in 1759. The genus is native to the Old World Tropics (Africa, southern Asia, northern Australia, and assorted oceanic islands). Etymology Genus name, '' ...

Spegazziniophytum ''Spegazziniophytum'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 2001. It contains only one known species, ''Spegazziniophytum patagonicum'', endemic to Argentina (Provinces of Mendoza, Neuquén Neuquén (; ...

)'' # ''Spirostachys madagascariensis'', syn of '' Excoecaria madagascariensis'' # ''Spirostachys patagonica'', syn of '' Spegazziniophytum patagonicum'' ;names in

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...

The same genus name, ''Spirostachys'', was used twice to name genera in the

. Thus were created two illegitimate homonyms, unacceptable according to the rules of nomenclature. The species assigned to these genera have been placed in the genera '' Allenrolfea and

Heterostachys ''Heterostachys'' is a genus of flowering plants in the plant family Amaranthaceae. The two species are shrubby halophytes native to South America and Central America. Description The species of ''Heterostachys'' grow as subshrubs or low shr ...

,'' as follows:Tropicos, search for name ''Falconeria''
/ref> # ''Spirostachys occidentalis'' (S. Watson) S. Watson 1874, now ''

Allenrolfea occidentalis ''Allenrolfea occidentalis'', the iodine bush, is a low-lying shrub of the Southwestern United States, California, Idaho, and northern Mexico.Shultz, L.M.: 'eFloras 2008''Allenrolfea occidentalis'' in Flora of North America Missouri Botanical Ga ...

'' (S.Watson) Kuntze # ''Spirostachys olivascens'' Speg. 1902, now '' Heterostachys olivascens'' (Speg.) Molfino # ''Spirostachys ritteriana'' (Moq.) Ung.-Sternb. 1866, now '' Heterostachys ritteriana'' (Moq.) Ung.-Sternb. # ''Spirostachys vaginata'' Griseb. 1874, now ''

Allenrolfea vaginata ''Allenrolfea'' is a genus of shrubs in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus was named for the English botanist Robert Allen Rolfe. There are three species, ranging from North America to South America. Description The species of ''Allenrolfea' ...

'' (Griseb.) Kuntze # ''Spirostachys vaginata'' Benth. & Hook.f. - unresolved

References

Hippomaneae Flora of Africa Euphorbiaceae genera {{Euphorbiaceae-stub