''Micropholis'' is genus of trees 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 ...

Sapotaceae 240px, '' Madhuca longifolia'' var. ''latifolia'' in Narsapur, Medak district, India The Sapotaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the order (biology)">order Ericales">family (biology)">family of flowering plants belonging to th ...

'', described in 1891.Tropicos, ''Micropholis'' (Griseb.) Pierre
/ref> (2001): World Checklist of Sapotaceae &ndash
''Micropholis''
The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2008-DEC-24. These trees are native to tropical

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

, and the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Most are locally known as ''"cafetos"'', literally meaning " coffee plants". But while both ''Micropholis'' and the coffeeplant genus ''

Coffea ''Coffea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. ''Coffea'' species are shrubs or small trees native to tropical and southern Africa and tropical Asia. The seeds of some species, called coffee beans, are used to flavor variou ...

'' are

asterid Asterids are a large clade (monophyletic group) of flowering plants, composed of 17 orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flowering plant species. The asterids are divided into the unranked clades lamiids (8 orders) and ...

s, the present genus is part of the

Ericales The Ericales are a large and diverse order of flowering plants in the asterid group of the eudicots. Well-known and economically important members of this order include tea and ornamental camellias, persimmon, ebony, blueberry, cranberry, l ...

– a quite basal asterid lineage –, while ''Coffea'' belongs to the more advanced

Gentianales Gentianales is an order of flowering plant, included within the asterid clade of eudicots. It comprises more than 20,000 species in about 1,200 genera in 5 families. More than 80% of the species in this order belong to the family Rubiaceae. Man ...

. They are valued for their wood, which is used as

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

, for construction and as

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...

; many species are threatened by

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

and

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. Also, they are often used as part of

catuaba The name Catuaba ( , via Portuguese language, Portuguese from Guarani language, Guarani) is used for the infusions of the Bark (botany), bark of a number of trees native to Brazil. The most widely used barks are derived from the trees ''Trichi ...

, a decoction from various tree's

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

claimed to have

aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases libido, sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. These substances range from a variety of plants, spices, and foods to synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs, such as ...

and

stimulant Stimulants (also known as central nervous system stimulants, or psychostimulants, or colloquially as uppers) are a class of drugs that increase alertness. They are used for various purposes, such as enhancing attention, motivation, cognition, ...

properties. ''

Caimitillo verde ''Micropholis garciniifolia'' is a species of plant in the family Sapotaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is known as ''caimitillo verde''. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or ...

'' (''M. garciniifolia'') is an important food source of the nearly-

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

Puerto Rican amazon The Puerto Rican amazon (''Amazona vittata''), also known as the Puerto Rican parrot ( Spanish: ''cotorra puertorriqueña'') or ''iguaca'' (Taíno), is the only extant parrot endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico, and belongs to the Neotro ...

bird (''Amazona vittata'').

Species

41 species are accepted.

References

Sapotaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Flora of the Neotropical realm Taxa described in 1890 Taxa named by August Grisebach {{Sapotaceae-stub