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Magnoliopsida
Melochia L.
EOL Text
Herb (in ours). Leaves simple. Flowers all bisexual, in cymose clusters. Bracts present. Calyx shortly 5-lobed. Petals present, marcescent. Stamens 5; filaments ± connate into a tube; anthers glabrous. Staminodes 0. Ovary 5-locular; each loculus with 2 ovules. Styles 5. Fruit a capsule.
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Rights holder/Author | Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings, Flora of Zimbabwe |
Source | http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=952 |
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
Specimen Records:27
Specimens with Sequences:23
Specimens with Barcodes:23
Species:7
Species With Barcodes:6
Public Records:8
Public Species:3
Public BINs:0
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 0
Specimens with Barcodes: 3
Species With Barcodes: 1
Melochia is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It comprises 54 species from the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, ranging from India eastwards through Malesia and the Pacific Islands to the Americas and the Caribbean.
Some taxonomy books have placed genus Melochia in family Sterculiaceae,[1] but Sterculiaceae is now generally considered obsolete as a taxonomic class.
The name "Melochia" comes from the Arabic name Mulukhiyah which in Arabic means mallow plants of the Corchorus genus (including Corchorus olitorius) which are cultivated as vegetables in Egypt (and elsewhere). The take-up of this Arabic Molokheya as a label for the Melochia mallow plants began with the Latin botanist Prospero Alpini (died 1617), who spent several years in Egypt in the 1580s, and Alpini's name was soon adopted by the botanists Johann Bauhin (died 1613), Caspar Bauhin (died 1624), and Johann Vesling (visited Egypt 1628; died 1649).[2]
Selected species[edit]
- Melochia arborea
- Melochia caracasana
- Melochia carrioni
- Melochia chamaedrys
- Melochia corchorifolia L.[3]
- Melochia hermanoides
- Melochia makateaensis
- Melochia nodiflora Sw.[4]
- Melochia odorata
- Melochia parvifolia
- Melochia pilosa
- Melochia pyramidata L.[3]
- Melochia spicata
- Melochia tomentosa L.[4]
- Melochia umbellata (Houtt.) Stapf[5]
- Melochia villosa
- Melochia vitiensis
Formerly placed here[edit]
- Sida cordata (Burm.f.) Borss.Waalk. (as M. cordata Burm.f.)
References[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melochia. |
Wikispecies has information related to: Melochia |
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c "Genus: Melochia L.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
- ^ L. Marcel Devic (year 1876), Dictionnaire étymologique des mots français d'origine orientale. Helmut Genaust (year 1998), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen. Prosperi Alpini (year 1592, republished year 1640) De Plantis Aegypti (in Latin).
- ^ a b "GRIN Species Records of Melochia". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
- ^ a b "Melochia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2010-12-08.
- ^ Starr, Forest; Starr, Kim; & Loope, Lloyd (March 2003). "Melochia umbellata". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
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License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melochia&oldid=587835909 |
United States
Origin: Exotic
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Unknown/Undetermined
Confidence: Confident
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Melochia+umbellata |
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Melochia+umbellata |
Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Melochia+umbellata |
Melochia umbellata is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae. Its specific epithet comes from the Latin umbellatus (umbel-like), referring to the inflorescence.[2]
Contents
Description[edit]
Melochia umbellata is a shrub or small tree, growing to 2–15 m in height. It grows rapidly and is able to colonise disturbed land.[3] It has large, broadly ovate, leaves 90–300 mm long. The flowers are usually pale pink to red. The seeds are winged and wind-dispersed.[3]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
The plant is native to a region extending from India eastwards through Southeast Asia to north-western Australia and New Guinea. It occurs in secondary vegetation and forest clearings, on rocky slopes and along the edges of rivers and forests, often in seasonally dry soil.[2]
It has been introduced elsewhere and is cultivated widely to provide shade for young trees in timber and coffee plantations. It has become an invasive weed on the Island of Hawaiʻi where it was extensively planted in the Hilo area during a 1920s reforestation program.[3]
References[edit]
Notes[edit]
Sources[edit]
- Starr, Forest; Starr, Kim; & Loope, Lloyd (March 2003). "Melochia umbellata". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2010-11-30.
- "Melochia umbellata (Houtt.) Stapf". Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study. 1993. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melochia_umbellata&oldid=587835938 |