''Sphenostemon'' is the genus of small

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

trees or shrubs native to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

(Australia) and New Caledonia. They have opposite or spiral leaves, and at most small

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

s. The small flowers, borne in terminal inflorescences, have free (i.e. unjoined)

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s and petals. The anthers have thick filaments. The fruit, a berry, is fleshy and contains two seeds. The genus is described as "particularly poorly known".

Taxonomy

In the 2009 APG III system, the genus is placed in the family Paracryphiaceae, along with '' Paracryphia'' and ''

Quintinia ''Quintinia'' is a genus of about 25 evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Philippines, New Guinea, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Australia. Plants have alternate leaves. White or lilac flowers form at the end of stalks or on leaf ax ...

''. The earlier

APG II system The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Gr ...

placed it alone in family Sphenostemonaceae.

References

Asterid genera Paracryphiales Taxa named by Henri Ernest Baillon {{asterid-stub