''Xylosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family

Salicaceae The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly ...

. It contains around 100

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

of evergreen shrubs and trees commonly known as brushhollies, xylosmas, or, more ambiguously, "

logwood ''Haematoxylum campechianum'' (blackwood, bloodwood tree, bluewood, campeachy tree, campeachy wood, campeche logwood, campeche wood, Jamaica wood, logwood or logwood tree) is a species of flowering tree in the legume family, Fabaceae, that is n ...

s". The generic name is derived from the Greek words ξύλον (''xylon''), meaning "wood," and ὀσμή (''osmé''), meaning "smell," referring to the fragrant wood of some of the species. The Takhtajan system places it in the family

Flacourtiaceae The Flacourtiaceae is a defunct family of flowering plants whose former members have been scattered to various families, mostly to the Achariaceae and Salicaceae. It was so vaguely defined that hardly anything seemed out of place there and it ...

, which is considered defunct by the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disco ...

Description

The

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

are

alternate Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

, simple, entire or finely toothed, long. The flowers are small, yellowish, produced on racemes long, usually dioecious, and have a strong scent. The fruit is a small purple-black

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

in diameter that contains 2 to 8 seeds.

Range

The genus is predominantly native to the tropics and

subtropics The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

, from the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean S ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. C ...

, northern South America, the Pacific Islands, southern

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 northern

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologi ...

. Two species, '' X. congesta'' and '' X. japonicum'', are found in warm- temperate

eastern Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

( China, Korea and Japan). Molecular phylogenetic analysis suggest that the genus '' Lasiochlamys'' from New Caledonia may be nested in ''Xylosma''.

Ecology

''Xylosma'' foliage is used as food by the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symph ...

s of some lepidoptera, such as the rustic (''

Cupha erymanthis ''Cupha erymanthis'', the rustic, is a species of brush-footed butterfly found in forested areas of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. The males and females are identical. Description Upperside The upperside of the rustic is ochraceous ...

''), which feeds on '' X. racemosa'', and the common leopard ('' Phalanta phalantha''), which feeds on '' X. longifolium'' and ''X. racemosa''.

Uses

The main use for the genus is as

hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoi ...

and topiary plants among gardeners in desert and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean ...

climates. '' Xylosma congesta'' is the species usually seen in garden hedges and in road landscaping, despite the fact it bears thorns. Other species cultivated for these purposes include '' X. bahamensis'', '' X. flexuosa'', and '' X. heterophyllum''. '' X. longifolium'' is sometimes grown in India for its edible fruits. In addition, a medicinal extract is made from its young leaves that acts as

antispasmodic An antispasmodic (synonym: spasmolytic) is a pharmaceutical drug or other agent that suppresses muscle spasms. Smooth muscle spasm One type of antispasmodics is used for smooth muscle relaxation, especially in tubular organs of the gastrointestin ...

, narcotic, and sedative. 15 species of the genus have reported medicinal or veterinary use.

Selected species

Species include: * '' Xylosma bahamensis'' ( Britton)

Standl. Paul Carpenter Standley (March 21, 1884 – June 2, 1963) was an American botanist known for his work on neotropical plants. __TOC__ Standley was born on March 21, 1884 in Avalon, Missouri. He attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri an ...

– Bahamas xylosma (

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

) * '' Xylosma boliviana'' Sleumer * '' Xylosma boulindae'' Sleumer ( New Caledonia) * '' Xylosma buxifolia''

A.Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

– boxleaf xylosma (the

) * '' Xylosma capillipes'' Guillaumin (New Caledonia) * '' Xylosma ciliatifolia'' (Clos) Eichler * '' Xylosma congesta'' (Lour.) Merrill – shiny xylosma * '' Xylosma crenata'' H.St.John – sawtooth logwood ( Kauai in Hawaii) * '' Xylosma fawcettii''

Urb. Ignatz Urban (7 January 1848 – 7 January 1931) was a German botanist. He is known for his contributions to the flora of the Caribbean and Brazil, and for his work as curator of the Berlin Botanical Garden. Born the son of a brewer, Urban sho ...

( Jamaica) * ''

Xylosma flexuosa ''Xylosma flexuosa'', commonly known as brushholly or coronilla, is a species of flowering plant in the family Salicaceae, that is native to southern North America and northern South America. Its range stretches from southern Texas in the United ...

'' (

Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850), also Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth, was a German botanist. He is known for being one of the first to study and categorise plants from the American continents ...

) Hemsl. – brushholly ( Mexico,

) * '' Xylosma glaberrima'' Sleumer ( Brazil) * '' Xylosma grossecrenata'' (Sleumer) Lescot (New Caledonia) * ''

Xylosma hawaiensis ''Xylosma hawaiensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Salicaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. Common names include Hawai'i brushholly, ''maua'', and ''ae'' (Maui only). Description ''Xylosma hawaiensis'' is a small deciduous tree, ...

'' Seem. – Hawaiian brushholly, ''maua'' ( Hawaii) * '' Xylosma heterophylla'' (H.Karst.) Gilg. ( Colombia) * '' Xylosma inaequinervia'' Sleumer (New Caledonia) * '' Xylosma japonica'' (Thunb.) A.Gr. * '' Xylosma kaalaensis'' Sleumer (New Caledonia) * '' Xylosma latifolia'' J.Hk. & Thoms. ( India) * '' Xylosma longifolia'' Clos (Western Himalayas) * ''

Xylosma maidenii ''Xylosma maidenii'', commonly known as the ship tree or shitum wood is a small tree in the genus ''Xylosma'' of the family Salicaceae, endemic to the lowland forests of Australia's Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māo ...

'' * '' Xylosma molesta'' Sleumer (New Caledonia) * '' Xylosma obovata'' (Karsten) Triana & Planchon ( Colombia) * ''

Xylosma orbiculata ''Xylosma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae. It contains around 100 species of evergreen shrubs and trees commonly known as brushhollies, xylosmas, or, more ambiguously, "logwoods". The generic name is derived from the Gr ...

'' ( J.R.Forst. &

G.Forst. Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (, 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold F ...

) G.Forst. ( Fiji, Tonga, Niue) * '' Xylosma ovata'' * '' Xylosma pachyphylla'' (Krug & Urb.) Urb. – spiny logwood ( Puerto Rico) * '' Xylosma palawanensis'' Mend. ( Philippines) * '' Xylosma panamensis''

Turcz. Nikolai Stepanovich Turczaninow ( ru , Николай Степанович Турчанинов, 1796 in Nikitovka, now in Krasnogvardeysky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia – 1863 in Kharkov) was a Russian botanist and plant collector ...

* '' Xylosma parvifolia'' Jessup * '' Xylosma peltata'' (Sleumer) Lescot (New Caledonia) * '' Xylosma pininsularis'' Guillaumin (New Caledonia) * '' Xylosma prockia'' (Turcz.) Turcz. * '' Xylosma proctorii'' Sleumer (Jamaica) * '' Xylosma pseudosalzmannii'' Sleumer * '' Xylosma racemosa'' (Siebold & Zucc.) Miq. * '' Xylosma ruiziana'' Sleumer ( Peru) * '' Xylosma salzmanni'' Eich. * '' Xylosma samoensis'' Sleumer ( Savai'i) * '' Xylosma schaefferioides'' A.Gray – white logwood (

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...

) * '' Xylosma schwaneckeana'' Urb. – Schwaneck's logwood (Puerto Rico) * '' Xylosma senticosa'' Hance * '' Xylosma serpentina'' Sleumer (New Caledonia) * '' Xylosma serrata'' (Sw.) Urb. * '' Xylosma simulans'' A.C.Sm. * '' Xylosma spiculifera'' (Tul.) Triana & Planch. (Colombia) * '' Xylosma terrae-reginae'' C.T.White & Sleumer (NSW and Queensland, Australia) * '' Xylosma tuberculata'' Sleumer (New Caledonia) * '' Xylosma tweediana'' (Clos) Eichler

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5222959 Salicaceae genera Taxa named by Georg Forster Dioecious plants