Canthium coromandelicum near Hyderabad W IMG 7609

''Canthium'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...

. They are

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s and small

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, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s. The leaves are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

and the stems are usually thorny.

Distribution

''Canthium'' species were predominantly found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, especially in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. A small number of species was found in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Only a limited number of species were found on the African continent, especially in Southern and

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

Taxonomy

''Canthium'' was named by

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biologi ...

in 1785 in Encyclopédie Méthodique. The

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

is a latinisation of "kantankara", a

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

for ''Canthium coromandelicum''. ''Kantan'' means "shining" and ''kara'' means "a spiny shrub". The

biological type In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

for the genus consists of

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

s originally described by

as ''Canthium parviflorum''''Canthium'' In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In:

Regnum Vegetabile The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and ...

but this species is now included in '' Canthium coromandelicum''. ''Canthium'' is a member of Vanguerieae, a

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

that is

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

and easily recognized morphologically, but in which generic boundaries were, for a long time, very unclear. ''Canthium'' was especially problematic, and until the 1980s, it was defined broadly and known to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. '' Psydrax'' was separated from it in 1985, as was '' Keetia'' in 1986. These were followed by '' Pyrostria'' and '' Multidentia'' in 1987. The

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

'' Afrocanthium'' was raised to generic rank in 2004, followed by '' Bullockia'' in 2009. A few species were transferred to ''Canthium'' from '' Rytigynia'' and other genera in 2004. The genus was further reduced by the transfer of species to '' Peponidium'' and '' Pyrostria''. In 2016, two ''Canthium'' species endemic to the

were transferred to a genus of their own, '' Kanapia''. The final circumscription of ''Canthium'' will remain in doubt until

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

studies achieve greater resolution for the

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

containing '' Canthium coromandelicum'' and its closest relatives.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

recognises the following species: * '' Canthium aciculatum'' Ridl. * '' Canthium angustifolium'' Roxb. * '' Canthium arboreum'' Vidal * '' Canthium armatum'' * '' Canthium aurantiacum'' Merr. & L.M.Perry * '' Canthium berberidifolium'' Geddes * '' Canthium bipinnatum'' (

Blanco Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to: People *Blanco (surname) Fictional characters *Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth *Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' *Graboid#El Blanco, ...

) Merr. * '' Canthium brunneum'' ( Merr.) Merr. * '' Canthium bugoyense'' * '' Canthium calvum'' Craib * '' Canthium cambodianum'' Pit. * '' Canthium campanulatum'' Thwaites * '' Canthium cavaleriei'' H.Lév. * '' Canthium ciliatum'' (D.Dietr.) Kuntze * '' Canthium coffeoides'' Pierre ex Pit. * '' Canthium congestiflorum'' Ridl. * '' Canthium cordatum'' Dillwyn * '' Canthium coromandelicum'' ( Brum.f.) Alston * '' Canthium depressinerve'' Ridl. * '' Canthium ellipticum'' ( Merr.) Merr. * '' Canthium fenicis'' ( Merr.) Merr. * '' Canthium ferrugineum'' Craib * '' Canthium filipendulum'' Pierre ex Pit. * '' Canthium fraternum'' Miq. * '' Canthium glaucum'' Hiern * '' Canthium gracilipes'' Kurz * '' Canthium hainanense'' ( Merr.) Lantz * '' Canthium hirtellum'' Ridl. * '' Canthium hispidonervosum'' ( De Wild.) C.M.Evrard * '' Canthium horridulum'' Craib * '' Canthium horridum'' Blume * '' Canthium inerme'' ( L.f.) Kuntze * '' Canthium korthalsianum'' Miq. * '' Canthium kuntzeanum'' Bridson * '' Canthium laeve'' Teijsm. & Binn. * '' Canthium lasianthoides'' Miq. * '' Canthium libericum'' Dinkl. * '' Canthium longipes'' Geddes * '' Canthium lucidum'' R.Br. * '' Canthium macrocarpum'' Thwaites * '' Canthium malayense'' K.M.Wong * '' Canthium megacarpum'' ( Merr.) Merr. * '' Canthium megistocarpum'' Merr. & L.M.Perry * '' Canthium merrillianum'' Mabb. * '' Canthium mite'' Bartl. ex DC. * '' Canthium molle''

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

& Gamble * '' Canthium moluccanum'' Roxb. * '' Canthium oblongum'' (Valeton) Kaneh. * '' Canthium obscurum'' * '' Canthium oliganthum'' ( Miq.) Boerl. * '' Canthium oligocarpum'' Hiern * '' Canthium parvifolium'' Roxb. * '' Canthium paucinervium'' ( Merr.) Merr. * '' Canthium pedunculare'' Cav. * '' Canthium perakanthus'' ined. * '' Canthium polyanthum'' Miq. * '' Canthium puberulum'' Thwaites ex Hook.f. * '' Canthium quadratum'' Craib * '' Canthium rheedei'' DC. * '' Canthium sarcocarpum'' ( Merr.) Merr. * '' Canthium sarmentosum'' Craib * '' Canthium scabridum'' Ridl. * '' Canthium scandens'' Blume * '' Canthium schlechterianum'' Merr. & L.M.Perry * '' Canthium simile'' Merr. & Chun * '' Canthium sordidum'' ( K.Schum.) Bullock * '' Canthium spirostylum'' Miq. * '' Canthium stellulatum'' Craib * '' Canthium strigosum'' Craib * '' Canthium strychnoides'' Craib * '' Canthium subaureum'' Craib * '' Canthium subcapitatum'' ( Merr.) Merr. * '' Canthium suberosum'' Codd * '' Canthium subsessilifolium'' ( Merr.) Merr. * '' Canthium tavoyanum'' (R.Parker) Merr. * '' Canthium thonningii'' * '' Canthium travancoricum'' Bedd. * '' Canthium trichophorum'' Quisumb. & Merr. * '' Canthium umbelligerum'' Miq. * '' Canthium vanwykii'' Tilney & Kok * '' Canthium villarii'' Vidal * '' Canthium violaceum'' Zoll. & Moritzi

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3244344 Rubiaceae genera Flora of the Afrotropical realm Flora of the Indomalayan realm Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Taxonomy articles created by Polbot