''Apodytes'' is a

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 ...

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 t ...

s in the family

Metteniusaceae Metteniusaceae are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the order Metteniusales. It consists of about 10 genera and 50 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas, primarily of the tropics. The family was formerly restricted to just '' Mette ...

. It was formerly either unplaced as to family or placed in the family

Icacinaceae The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family of flowering plants,"Icacinaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website (see ''External links'' below). consisting of trees, shrubs, and lianas, pri ...

. It consists of about 8 species of evergreen trees, from tropical northeastern Australia, New Caledonia, Africa and Asia. The exact number of species has been revised from 3 to 8, according to

The Plant List The Plant List was a list of botanical names of species of plants created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden and launched in 2010. It was intended to be a comprehensive record of all known names of plant species ...

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Description

All of the species have simple, smooth-edged, leathery leaves and much-branched panicles of small white flowers with recurving petals and conspicuous stamens. The fruits are small drupes with a fleshly appendage on one side attached to the fruit, termed a pseudoaril.
The African species (''

Apodytes dimidiata ''Apodytes dimidiata'' (white pear or umDakane) is a bushy tree with white flowers bearing a fragrance reminiscent of fresh coconut, and small black and red fruits. It is usually about 5 m tall (but reaches a height of 20 m when growing ...

'') is grown for its attractive display of white blossom and red and black fruit, as well as for shade, screening and hedges. It is also grown in southern Africa for ornament and timber, and a bark preparation is used to drive out intestinal parasites.

Cultivation

It adapts readily to gardens in warm-temperate to tropical climates, though growth is not particularly fast and it can be kept to large shrub size. A deep fertile soil suits it best but it will grow in poorer soils. Propagate from fresh seed. Apodytes dimidiata04

Species

The original classification included only 3 species, but recently the genus was revised to include 8 species. * '' Apodytes abbottii'' Potg. & A.E.van Wyk * '' Apodytes bebile '' Labat, R.Rabev. & El-Achkar * '' Apodytes brachystylis '' F.Muell. * '' Apodytes clusiifolia '' (Baill.) Villiers * '' Apodytes dimidiata '' E.Mey. ex Arn. * '' Apodytes geldenhuysii '' A.E.van Wyk & Potgieter * '' Apodytes grandifolia '' (Miers) Benth. & Hook.f. ex B.D.Jacks. * '' Apodytes thouvenotii '' Danguy

References

Botanica Sistematica
* Lord, Tony (2003) Flora : The Gardener's Bible : More than 20,000 garden plants from around the world. London: Cassell. {{Taxonbar, from=Q5262538 Metteniusaceae Asterid genera