Mallotus is a genus of the spurge family Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbiaceae

Euphorbiaceae, the Spurge family are a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....

. 2 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 are found in tropical 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...

 and Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

. About 140 species are found in East

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

 and Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and from Indomalaysia to 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...

 and 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...

, northern and eastern Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Notable members include the Kamala tree

Mallotus philippensis

Mallotus philippensis is a plant in the spurge family. It is known as the Kamala or Red Kamala, due to the fruit covering, which produces a red dye. However, it must be distinguished from Kamala meaning 'lotus' in many Indian languages, an unrelated plant, flower, and sometimes metonymic spiritual...

 (Mallotus philippensis), the hairs of whose seed capsule is the source of a yellow dye

Dye

A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....

 (kamala dye) and (formerly) herb

Herb

Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...

al remedy.

Mallotus species are used as food plants by the larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including Endoclita malabaricus

Endoclita

Endoclita is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 60 described species found in eastern and southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.- Species :*E. aboe - India*E. absurdus - China*E. actinidae - China...

.

Synonyms

This genus is also known as:

• Aconceveibum Miq.
  Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel
  Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel was a Dutch botanist.He was head of the botanical gardens at Rotterdam , Amsterdam and Utrecht . He directed the Rijksherbarium at Leiden from 1862...
  
  
• Axenfeldia Baill.
  Henri Ernest Baillon
  Henri Ernest Baillon was a French botanist and physician. He was born in Calais on November 30, 1827 and died in Paris on July 19, 1895.Baillon spent his professional life as a professor of natural history, and he published numerous works on botany...
  
  
• Coelodiscus Baill.
  Henri Ernest Baillon
  Henri Ernest Baillon was a French botanist and physician. He was born in Calais on November 30, 1827 and died in Paris on July 19, 1895.Baillon spent his professional life as a professor of natural history, and he published numerous works on botany...
  
  
• Diplochlamys Mull. Arg.
• Echinocroton F. Muell.
• Echinus Lour.
  João de Loureiro
  João de Loureiro was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, paleontologist, physician and botanist.In 1742 he travelled to Cochinchina, remaining there for 30 years. He became a specialist in Asian flora and on his return published Flora Cochinchinensis .- References :...
  
  
• Hancea Seem.
  Berthold Carl Seemann
  Berthold 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....
  
  
• Lasipana Raf.
  Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz
  Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, as he is known in Europe, was a nineteenth-century polymath who made notable contributions to botany, zoology, the study of prehistoric earthworks in North America and Mesoamerican ancient linguistics.Rafinesque was eccentric, and is often portrayed as an...
  
  
• Plagianthera Rchb.f.
  Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach
  Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach was an ornithologist, botanist and the foremost German orchidologist of the 19th century...
  
   & Zoll.
• Rottlera Willd.
  Carl Ludwig Willdenow
  Carl Ludwig Willdenow was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants...
  
  
• Stylanthus Rchb.f.
  Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach
  Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach was an ornithologist, botanist and the foremost German orchidologist of the 19th century...
  
   & Zoll.

Species include

• Mallotus apelta
• Mallotus atrovirens
  Mallotus atrovirens
  Mallotus atrovirens is a species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is endemic to India.-References:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 22 August 2007....
  
  
• Mallotus barbatus
• Mallotus claoxyloides
  Mallotus claoxyloides
  Mallotus claoxyloides is an Australian rainforest plant in the spurge family. Common names include Green Kamala, Odour Bush, and Smell of the Bush. Opinions are divided on the strong scent of the plant. Some say it is offensive and resembles a skunk while most others find the scent aromatic and...
  
  - Green Kamala or Odour Bush - Australia
• Mallotus discolor
  Mallotus discolor
  Mallotus discolor is an Australian rainforest tree in the spurge family. It is known as the Yellow Kamala, due to the yellowish orange fruit covering, which produces a yellow dye.- Description :...
  
  - Yellow Kamala - Australia
• Mallotus ficifolius
• Mallotus fuscescens
  Mallotus fuscescens
  Mallotus fuscescens is a species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 22 August 2007....
  
  
• Mallotus hookerianus
• Mallotus japonicus
• Mallotus odoratus
  Mallotus odoratus
  Mallotus odoratus is a species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 22 August 2007....
  
  
• Mallotus paniculatus
• Mallotus peltatus
• Mallotus philippensis
  Mallotus philippensis
  Mallotus philippensis is a plant in the spurge family. It is known as the Kamala or Red Kamala, due to the fruit covering, which produces a red dye. However, it must be distinguished from Kamala meaning 'lotus' in many Indian languages, an unrelated plant, flower, and sometimes metonymic spiritual...
  
  - Kamala tree
• Mallotus repandus
• Mallotus smilaciformis
  Mallotus smilaciformis
  Mallotus smilaciformis is a species of plant in the Euphorbiaceae family. It is endemic to Malaysia.-Source:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 22 August 2007....
  
  

Taxonomy note

Coccoceras

Coccoceras

Coccoceras is a genus of the spurge family Euphorbiaceae, comprising 4 species found from Myanmar to Borneo. This genus was until recently thought to be synonym of Mallotus....

Miq.

Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel

Friedrich Anton Wilhelm Miquel was a Dutch botanist.He was head of the botanical gardens at Rotterdam , Amsterdam and Utrecht . He directed the Rijksherbarium at Leiden from 1862...

, precedently thought to be a synonym of Mallotus

Mallotus

Mallotus may refer to:* A genus of plants in the family Euphorbiaceae: see Mallotus .* A genus of fish in the family Osmeridae: see Capelin....

, has been split to stand alone.