''Distylium'' (winter-hazel) is a genus of about 18 species of evergreen shrubs and

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 in the witch hazel family,

Hamamelidaceae Hamamelidaceae, commonly referred to as the witch-hazel family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. The clade consists of shrubs and small trees positioned within the woody clade of the core Saxifragales. An earlier syste ...

, native to eastern and southeastern

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 are ...

Taxonomy

Fossil record

Researchers have recognized ''Distylium'' fossil pollen among the middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...

palynoflora from the

Lavanttal The Lavant Valley (german: Lavanttal, sl, Labotska dolinaGams, Ivan. 1992. "Labotska dolina." ''Enciklopedija Slovenije'', vol. 6. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, pp. 87–87. or ''Laboška dolina''; Southern Bavarian: ''Lovnthol'') lies in the Lav ...

Basin of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. The sediment containing the fossil pollen had accumulated in a lowland wetland environment with various vegetation units of mixed evergreen/deciduous broadleaved/conifer forests surrounding the wetland basin. Key relatives of the fossil taxa found with ''Distylium'' are presently confined to humid warm temperate environments, suggesting a subtropical climate during the middle Miocene in Austria. ''Distylium''

macrofossil Macrofossils, also known as megafossils, are preserved organic remains large enough to be visible without a microscope. The term ''macrofossil'' stands in opposition to the term microfossil. Microfossils, by contrast, require substantial magnifica ...

s of the Lower and Middle

, are known from the lignite mines of the Kaltennortheim Formation in the Rhön Mountains, central

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, where it is associated with typical elements of the Mastixioid floras that attest to an optimal warm humid phase of the Miocene.The floral change in the tertiary of the Rhön mountains (Germany) by Dieter Hans Mai - Acta Paleobotanica 47(1): 135-143, 2007.

Species

;Selected species *'' Distylium buxifolium'' - China *'' Distylium chinense'' - China *'' Distylium chungii'' - China *'' Distylium cuspidatum'' - China *'' Distylium dunnianum'' - China *'' Distylium elaeagnoides'' - China *'' Distylium gracile'' - China *'' Distylium macrophyllum'' - China *'' Distylium myricoides'' - China *'' Distylium pingpienense'' - China *'' Distylium racemosum'' - tree up to 20m; China, Korea, Japan (

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yona ...

)(known as Isunoki(イスノキ)/Nara(柞), Taiwan *'' Distylium tsiangii'' - China

References

Flora of China: ''Distylium''

External links

* Hamamelidaceae Saxifragales genera {{Saxifragales-stub