Afrocanthium

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]

Afrocanthium
A. gilfillanii in South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
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

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. Bridson DM (1992). "The genus Canthium (Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae) in tropical Africa". Kew Bulletin. 47 (3): 353–401. doi:10.2307/4110569. JSTOR 4110569.
  2. Verdcourt B, Bridson DM (1991). "Rubiaceae". In Polhill RM (ed.). Flora of Tropical East Africa (3 ed.). Rotterdam/Brookfield: AA Balkema. p. 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. doi:10.2307/4102996. JSTOR 4102996.
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