''Nestegis'' is a genus of

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 th ...

in the olive family,

Oleaceae Oleaceae, also known as the olive family, is a taxonomic family of flowering shrubs, trees, and a few lianas in the order Lamiales, It presently comprises 28 genera, one of which is recently extinct.Peter S. Green. 2004. "Oleaceae". pages 2 ...

. There are five currently accepted species in the genus: three species are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, while one can be found on New Zealand and Norfolk Island. Another is restricted to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Some species of the related genus ''

Osmanthus ''Osmanthus'' ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae. Most of the species are native to eastern Asia ( China, Japan, Korea, Indochina, the Himalayas, etc.),and wa ...

'' are sometimes included here.Shi-Quan Guo, Min Xiong, Chun-Feng Ji, Zhi-Rong Zhang, De-Zhu Li and Zhi-Yong Zhang, Molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of ''Osmanthus'' Lour. (Oleaceae) and related genera based on three chloroplast intergenic spacers, Plant Syst Evol (2011) 294:57–64

Etymology

The name ''Nestegis'' is of unknown origin, since the author Constantine Samuel Rafinesque often invented generic names from scratch. It may have no meaning at all or it may derive from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''stegos'' (στέγος) meaning "cover" in allusion to the lack of a corolla in the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

, ''

Nestegis apetala ''Nestegis apetala'' is a small tree native to northern New Zealand and to Norfolk Island. The common names in New Zealand are coastal maire or broad-leaved maire. On Norfolk Island, the common name is ironwood. The species name ''apetala'' re ...

''.

Description

''Nestegis'' species are

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 ...

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 or shrubs. The leaves are opposite, simple, entire, and

coriaceous This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is axillary, decussate, sometimes terminal and somewhat

paniculate A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are either bisexual or functionally unisexual. The corolla is either absent or four-lobed with a short tube. There are two or four stamens. The ovary is shaped like a flask. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a drupe containing a single

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

Species

Currently accepted species: # ''

'' (

Vahl Vahl is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Christian-Friedrich Vahl (born 1955), German cardiac surgeon * Emanuel Vahl (born 1938), Ukrainian-Israeli composer *Herbert-Ernst Vahl, German SS general *Jens Vahl (1796–1854), Danis ...

) L.A.S.Johnson –

(where the common name is coastal maire or broad-leaved maire) and Norfolk Island (where it is called ironwood) # ''

Nestegis cunninghamii ''Nestegis cunninghamii'', commonly called black maire is a native tree of New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and t ...

'' (

Hook.f. Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

) L.A.S.Johnson – black maire (New Zealand) # ''

Nestegis lanceolata ''Nestegis lanceolata'', commonly called white maire, is a tree native to New Zealand. ''Nestegis lanceolata'' is found from lowland to hilly forest across the North Island. In the South Island it is uncommon but is found in the Marlborough So ...

'' – white maire (New Zealand) # ''

Nestegis montana ''Nestegis montana'', commonly called narrow-leaved maire, is a tree native to New Zealand. ''Nestegis montana'' has a range from the top of the North Island near Kaitaia south to the top of the South Island around Nelson where it is much les ...

'' (Hook.f.) L.A.S.Johnson in O.Degener – narrow-leaved maire (New Zealand) # '' Nestegis sandwicensis'' (

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 exc ...

) O.Deg., I.Deg. & L.A.S.Johnson – "olopua" (

) Formerly included: *'' Nestegis ligustrina'' – privet mock olive (New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria) formerly included in this genus but the name now considered a synonym of '' Notelaea ligustrina'' Vent.

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5413274 Oleaceae genera