Atractocarpus
Encyclopedia
Atractocarpus is a genus
of flowering plant
s in the Rubiaceae
family
. Its members are commonly known as native gardenias in Australia. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek
terms atractos "spindle", and karpos "fruit", from the spindle-shaped fruit of the type species.
is the species Atractocarpus heterophyllus
, formerly A. bracteatus, which is found only on New Caledonia
. Subsequently several other species were described from New Caledonia.
Meanwhile the genera Randia
and Gardenia
had been used as wastebasket taxon, where many species that had been difficult to place had been placed by default. Several Australian species of the genus Randia were found to be not closely related to neotropical species and were transferred in a review of the genera by Australian botanist Christopher Puttock in 1999; these include several garden plant species such as Atractocarpus chartaceus
, A. benthamianus
and A. fitzalanii
.
Puttock also proposed that the genera Sukunia, Trukia, Neofranciella, and Sulitia (the last two consisting of once species each) be sunk into Atractocarpus. The resulting genus now contains around forty species, with seven found in
Australia, and others in the surrounding countries of the Federated States of Micronesia
, the Philippines
, Indonesia
, Papua New Guinea
, the Solomon Islands
, Vanuatu
, New Caledonia, Fiji
, Tonga
, and northeast to Tahiti
. All species are found in a type of lowland rainforest known as mesophyll vine forests, as well as swamp forests and vine thickets.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s in the Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
. Its members are commonly known as native gardenias in Australia. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
terms atractos "spindle", and karpos "fruit", from the spindle-shaped fruit of the type species.
Taxonomy
Defined by botanists Rudolf Schlechter and Kurt Krause in 1908, the type speciesType species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
is the species Atractocarpus heterophyllus
Atractocarpus heterophyllus
Atractocarpus heterophyllus is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family. It is the type species of the genus Atractocarpus. The plant is native to southeastern New Caledonia....
, formerly A. bracteatus, which is found only on New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
. Subsequently several other species were described from New Caledonia.
Meanwhile the genera Randia
Randia (plant)
Randia, commonly known as indigoberry, is a mostly neotropical genus of shrubs or small trees in the Rubiaceae. The International Plant Names Index lists a total of 738 names for the genus, synonyms included. Several Australian species have been reassigned to the genus Atractocarpus. These include...
and Gardenia
Gardenia
Gardenia is a genus of 142 species of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, native to the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, southern Asia, Australasia and Oceania....
had been used as wastebasket taxon, where many species that had been difficult to place had been placed by default. Several Australian species of the genus Randia were found to be not closely related to neotropical species and were transferred in a review of the genera by Australian botanist Christopher Puttock in 1999; these include several garden plant species such as Atractocarpus chartaceus
Atractocarpus chartaceus
Atractocarpus chartaceus is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family from eastern Australia. The habitat is the understorey of subtropical and tropical rainforest on fertile soils. The natural range of distribution is from the Richmond River, New South Wales to tropical Queensland...
, A. benthamianus
Atractocarpus benthamianus
Atractocarpus benthamianus is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family growing in eastern Australia. It is an understorey species of subtropical and tropical rainforest on fertile soils. The natural range of distribution is from the Forster, New South Wales to central Queensland...
and A. fitzalanii
Atractocarpus fitzalanii
Atractocarpus fitzalanii is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family found in tropical Queensland in Australia...
.
Puttock also proposed that the genera Sukunia, Trukia, Neofranciella, and Sulitia (the last two consisting of once species each) be sunk into Atractocarpus. The resulting genus now contains around forty species, with seven found in
Australia, and others in the surrounding countries of the Federated States of Micronesia
Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia or FSM is an independent, sovereign island nation, made up of four states from west to east: Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae. It comprises approximately 607 islands with c...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
, New Caledonia, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, and northeast to Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
. All species are found in a type of lowland rainforest known as mesophyll vine forests, as well as swamp forests and vine thickets.
Species
- Atractocarpus aragoensis GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
- Atractocarpus balansaeanus GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
- Atractocarpus benthamianusAtractocarpus benthamianusAtractocarpus benthamianus is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family growing in eastern Australia. It is an understorey species of subtropical and tropical rainforest on fertile soils. The natural range of distribution is from the Forster, New South Wales to central Queensland...
(F.Muell.Ferdinand von MuellerBaron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
) Puttock - Atractocarpus carolinensis (Valeton) Puttock
- Atractocarpus chartaceusAtractocarpus chartaceusAtractocarpus chartaceus is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family from eastern Australia. The habitat is the understorey of subtropical and tropical rainforest on fertile soils. The natural range of distribution is from the Richmond River, New South Wales to tropical Queensland...
(F.Muell.Ferdinand von MuellerBaron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
) Puttock - Narrow-leaved Gardenia or Thin-leaved Gardenia - Atractocarpus crosbyi (Burkill) Puttock
- Atractocarpus cucumicarpus S.MooreSpencer Le Marchant MooreSpencer Le Marchant Moore was an English botanist.Moore was born in Hampstead. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from about 1870 to 1879, wrote a number of botanical papers, and then worked in an unofficial capacity at the Natural History Museum from 1896 until his death.Moore is...
- Atractocarpus decorus (Valeton) Puttock
- Atractocarpus fitzalaniiAtractocarpus fitzalaniiAtractocarpus fitzalanii is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family found in tropical Queensland in Australia...
(F.Muell.Ferdinand von MuellerBaron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
) Puttock - Brown Gardenia or Yellow Mangosteen - Atractocarpus heterophyllusAtractocarpus heterophyllusAtractocarpus heterophyllus is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family. It is the type species of the genus Atractocarpus. The plant is native to southeastern New Caledonia....
(Montrouz.Jean Xavier Hyacinthe MontrouzierReverendus Pater Jean Xavier Hyacinthe Montrouzier was a French Marist priest, explorer, botanist, zoologist and entomologist.Abbé Montrouzier studied the flora and fauna of Melanesia especially New Caledonia.-Works:...
) GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
& Beavis. - Atractocarpus hirtus (F.Muell.Ferdinand von MuellerBaron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
) Puttock - Atractocarpus longipes (A.C.Sm.Albert Charles SmithAlbert Charles Smith was an American botanist.-Life:He was a director of the National Museum of Natural History, and chaired several important scientific societies, such as the American Society of Plant Taxonomists....
) Puttock - Atractocarpus longistipitatus GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
- Atractocarpus macarthurii (F.Muell.Ferdinand von MuellerBaron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
) Puttock - Atractocarpus merikin (F.M.BaileyFrederick Manson BaileyFrederick Manson Bailey CMG was a botanist active in Australia, who made valuable contributions to the characterisation of the flora of Queensland.-Early life:...
) Puttock - Atractocarpus oblongus S.MooreSpencer Le Marchant MooreSpencer Le Marchant Moore was an English botanist.Moore was born in Hampstead. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from about 1870 to 1879, wrote a number of botanical papers, and then worked in an unofficial capacity at the Natural History Museum from 1896 until his death.Moore is...
- Atractocarpus obscurinervius (Merr.Elmer Drew MerrillElmer Drew Merrill was an American botanist, specializing in the flora of the Asia-Pacific region.He was born in East Auburn, Maine, and attended the University of Maine where he received a B.S. in 1898...
) Puttock - Atractocarpus pentagonioides (Seem.Berthold Carl SeemannBerthold Carl Seemann 25 February 1825 Hanover, Germany - 10 October 1871 Nicaragua, Central America, was a German botanist. He travelled widely and collected and described plants from the Pacific and South America....
) Puttock - Atractocarpus platyxylon (Vieill. ex Pancher & Sebert) GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
- Atractocarpus pterocarpon (GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
) Puttock - Atractocarpus rotundifolius GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
- Atractocarpus sessilifolius GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
- Atractocarpus sessilis (F.Muell.Ferdinand von MuellerBaron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
) Puttock - Atractocarpus simulans GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
- Atractocarpus stipularis (F.Muell.Ferdinand von MuellerBaron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
) Puttock ex P.S.Green - Atractocarpus tahitiensis (Nadeaud) Puttock
- Atractocarpus tenuiflorus (A.C.Sm.Albert Charles SmithAlbert Charles Smith was an American botanist.-Life:He was a director of the National Museum of Natural History, and chaired several important scientific societies, such as the American Society of Plant Taxonomists....
) Puttock - Atractocarpus vaginatus GuillauminAndré GuillauminAndré Louis Joseph Edmond Armand Guillaumin is a French botanist who was born on 21 June 1885 in Arrou and died on 29 May 1974 in Athis-Mons. He obtained his license in natural sciences in 1906 and began work in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris in 1909 as a preparer...
- Atractocarpus versteegii (Valeton) Puttock