Trochetiopsis
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The plant genus Trochetiopsis consists of two extant species and one extinct species endemic to the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic ocean. The wood of all the species is attractively coloured and is used in island inlay work. There is evidence from fossil pollen that the Trochetiopsis lineage has been on St Helena since the late Miocene (some 9.5 million years).
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[edit] Description
The species of this genus were formerly included in the genus Trochetia, but were separated by Marais in 1981 on the basis of geography and morphological characters. Unlike in Trochetia, the Trochetiopsis flowers have only five stamens, and the sepals generally have appressed sericeous indumentum on their interior faces (although one species, T. melanoxylon, lacks this last character).
[edit] Species
There are three species, although one is extinct, and one named hybrid.
- Trochetiopsis erythroxylon. Extinct in the wild
- Trochetiopsis ebenus. The St Helena ebony (critically endangered in the wild).
- Trochetiopsis melanoxylon - Extinct.
- Trochetiopsis x benjaminii (T. erythroxylon x T. ebenus).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Cronk, Q.C.B. (1995) The endemic Flora of St Helena. Anthony Nelson Ltd, Oswestry.
- Marais, W. (1981) Trochetiopsis (Sterculiaceae), a new genus from St Helena. Kew Bulletin 36, pp. 645-646.
- Cronk, Q.C.B. (1990) The history of the endemic flora of St Helena: late Miocene 'Trochetiopsis-like' pollen from St Helena and the origin of Trochetiopsis. New Phytologist 114, pp. 159-165.
