Afrocanthium

Afrocanthium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
clade: Angiosperms
clade: Eudicots
clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Ixoroideae
Tribe: Vanguerieae
Genus: Afrocanthium
(Bridson) Lantz & B.Bremer
Type species
Afrocanthium lactescens
(Hiern) Lantz

Afrocanthium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It consists of deciduous, unarmed, trees, and shrubs. They are native to East Africa, from Sudan and Ethiopia to South Africa.[1]

Contents

Taxonomy

Afrocanthium was first recognized as a distinct group in 1991, when it was named as a subgenus of Canthium.[2] It was described and compared to the other subgenera in 1992.[1] In 2004, a molecular phylogenetic study of DNA sequences showed that Afrocanthium is monophyletic and not most closely related to the other subgenera of Canthium.[3] The authors of this study raised Afrocanthium, unaltered, to generic status. It is sister to Keetia, a genus that was segregated from Canthium in 1986.[4]

Species

References

  1. ^ a b Bridson DM (1992). "The genus Canthium (Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae) in tropical Africa". Kew Bulletin 47 (3): 353–401. 
  2. ^ Verdcourt B, Bridson DM (1991). "Rubiaceae". In Polhill RM. Flora of Tropical East Africa (3 ed.). Rotterdam/Brookfield: AA Balkema. pp. 864. 
  3. ^ Lantz H, Bremer B (2004). "Phylogeny inferred from morphology and DNA data: characterizing well-supported groups in Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae)". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 146 (3): 257–283. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2004.00338.x. 
  4. ^ Bridson DM (1986). "The reinstatement of the African genus Keetia (Rubiaceae subfam. Cinchonoideae tribe Vanguerieae)". Kew Bulletin 41 (4): 965–994. 

External links