Lepidobotrys
Encyclopedia
Lepidobotrys is a flowering plant genus in the family Lepidobotryaceae
. It contains only one species, Lepidobotrys staudtii. L. staudtii is a small Africa
n tree, ranging from Cameroon
eastward to Ethiopia
.
The tannin 3,4,5-tri-O-galloylquinic acid
is found in L. staudtii.
in 1902 and placed by him in the family Linaceae
. It was regarded as somewhat of an anomaly and during the 20th century, was assigned to various families by different authors. Hans G. Hallier and Reinhard G.P. Knuth put it in Oxalidaceae
. In 1950, Jean Leonard became the first to put it in a family by itself, which he thought to be close to Linaceae. Arthur Cronquist, agreeing with Hallier and Knuth, put it in Oxalidaceae. Adding to the confusion was the lack of any strong basis for placing these and related families into orders.
Lepidobotryaceae
Lepidobotryaceae is a flowering plant family in the order Celastrales. It contains only two species, Lepidobotrys staudtii and Ruptiliocarpon caracolito.- Description :...
. It contains only one species, Lepidobotrys staudtii. L. staudtii is a small Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n tree, ranging from Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
eastward to Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
.
The tannin 3,4,5-tri-O-galloylquinic acid
3,4,5-Tri-O-galloylquinic acid
3,4,5-Tri-O-galloylquinic acid is a hydrolysable tannin found in Lepidobotrys staudtii, in Guiera senegalensis or in the resurrection plant ....
is found in L. staudtii.
Taxonomic history
Lepidobotrys staudtii was named and described by Adolf EnglerAdolf Engler
Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, like Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien , edited with Karl A. E...
in 1902 and placed by him in the family Linaceae
Linaceae
The Linaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family is cosmopolitan, and includes approximately 250 species. There are 14 genera, classified into two subfamilies: Linoideae and Hugonioideae ....
. It was regarded as somewhat of an anomaly and during the 20th century, was assigned to various families by different authors. Hans G. Hallier and Reinhard G.P. Knuth put it in Oxalidaceae
Oxalidaceae
The Oxalidaceae, or wood sorrel family, are a small family of eight genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs and small trees, with the great majority of the 900 species in the genus Oxalis...
. In 1950, Jean Leonard became the first to put it in a family by itself, which he thought to be close to Linaceae. Arthur Cronquist, agreeing with Hallier and Knuth, put it in Oxalidaceae. Adding to the confusion was the lack of any strong basis for placing these and related families into orders.