Soyauxia
Encyclopedia
Soyauxia is a genus
of flowering plant
s in the family
Peridiscaceae
. They are small tree
s or erect shrub
s from wet forest
s of tropical West Africa
. Eight specific names have been published in Soyauxia. Additional species have been discovered, but their names
and descriptions will not be published until 2009 or 2010. The type species
for the genus is Soyauxia gabonensis.
Soyauxia was long considered an anomaly and it has been variously classified
by different authors, usually in Passifloraceae
or in the defunct
plant family Flacourtiaceae
. The first molecular phylogenetic study
to include Soyauxia placed it in Peridiscaceae. Its position within that family was determined in 2009.
.):
in 1880, in a book whose final edition was entitled Hooker's Icones Plantarum
. It was named for the German
botanist and plant collector Hermann Soyaux.
Upon naming it, Oliver wrote
Oliver placed the new genus in Passifloraceae and described one species, Soyauxia gabonensis.
In 1953, John Brenan
put Soyauxia in Medusandraceae
, a family that he had established the year before. Brenan's classification was not generally followed by others, and John Hutchinson
wrote a detailed account of why he thought that Soyauxia and Medusandra were not closely related.
In 2007, in the first comparison of DNA sequence
s to include Soyauxia, it was shown that Soyauxia is sister to a clade
of two South America
n trees, Peridiscus and Whittonia. The authors recommended that Soyauxia be moved to Peridiscaceae. The position of Soyauxia within Peridiscaceae was clarified in 2009, with the inclusion of Medusandra in a phylogenetic study. In that study, it was shown that Brenan's concept of Medusandraceae is paraphyletic over Peridiscaceae sensu stricto, but that Brenan had been prescient in his perception of a relationship between Medusandra and Soyauxia. The authors recommended that Medusandra as well as Soyauxia be transferred to Peridiscaceae.
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 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...
Peridiscaceae
Peridiscaceae
Peridiscaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. It comprises four genera: Medusandra, Soyauxia, Peridiscus, and Whittonia. It has a disjunct distribution, with Peridiscus occurring in Venezuela and northern Brazil, Whittonia in Guyana, Medusandra in Cameroon, and Soyauxia...
. They are small tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s or erect shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s from wet forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s of tropical West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
. Eight specific names have been published in Soyauxia. Additional species have been discovered, but their names
Botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
and descriptions will not be published until 2009 or 2010. The type species
Type 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...
for the genus is Soyauxia gabonensis.
Soyauxia was long considered an anomaly and it has been variously classified
Biological classification
Biological classification, or scientific classification in biology, is a method to group and categorize organisms by biological type, such as genus or species. Biological classification is part of scientific taxonomy....
by different authors, usually in Passifloraceae
Passifloraceae
Passifloraceae is a family of flowering plants, containing about 530 species classified in around 18 genera. They include trees, shrubs, lianas and climbing plants, and are mostly found in tropical regions....
or in the defunct
Obsolescence
Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service or practice is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. Obsolescence frequently occurs because a replacement has become available that is superior in one or more aspects. Obsolete refers to something...
plant family Flacourtiaceae
Flacourtiaceae
Flacourtiaceae is a defunct family of flowering plants whose former members have been scattered to various other families, mostly to Achariaceae, Samydaceae, and Salicaceae. It was so vaguely defined that hardly anything seemed out of place there and it became a dumping ground for odd and anomalous...
. The first molecular phylogenetic study
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
to include Soyauxia placed it in Peridiscaceae. Its position within that family was determined in 2009.
Species
Soyauxia contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete or contain synonymsSynonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
.):
- Soyauxia bipindensis, GilgErnest Friedrich GilgErnest Friedrich Gilg was a German botanist.- Life :Gilg was curator of the Botanical Museum in Berlin...
ex Baker f. - Soyauxia floribunda, HutchinsonJohn HutchinsonJohn Hutchinson may refer to:*John Hutchinson , leader in the 17th century Puritan revolt in Britain*John Hutchinson , English writer...
- Soyauxia gabonensis, OliverDaniel OliverDaniel Oliver, FRS was a British botanist.He was Librarian of the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1860–1890 and Keeper there from 1864–1890, and Professor of Botany at University College, London from 1861–1888....
- Soyauxia glabrescens, Engler
- Soyauxia grandifolia, GilgErnest Friedrich GilgErnest Friedrich Gilg was a German botanist.- Life :Gilg was curator of the Botanical Museum in Berlin...
& StapfOtto StapfOtto Stapf FRS was an Austrian born botanist and taxonomist.Stapf trained in Vienna, moving to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1890. He was keeper of the Herbarium from 1909 to 1920... - Soyauxia ledermanii, SleumerHermann Otto SleumerHermann Otto Sleumer was a Dutch botanist of German birth. The plant genera Sleumerodendron Virot and Sleumeria Utteridge, Nagam. & Teo , are named for him....
- Soyauxia talbotiiSoyauxia talbotiiSoyauxia talbotii is a species of plant in the Peridiscaceae family. It is endemic to Nigeria.-References:* World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1998. . Downloaded on 23 August 2007....
, Baker f. - Soyauxia velutina, HutchinsonJohn Hutchinson (botanist)John Hutchinson, OBE, FRS was a renowned English botanist, taxonomist and author.-Life and career:...
& Dalziel
History
The genus Soyauxia was named by Daniel OliverDaniel Oliver
Daniel Oliver, FRS was a British botanist.He was Librarian of the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1860–1890 and Keeper there from 1864–1890, and Professor of Botany at University College, London from 1861–1888....
in 1880, in a book whose final edition was entitled Hooker's Icones Plantarum
Icones Plantarum
Icones Plantarum is an extensive series of published volumes of botanical illustration, initiated by Sir William Jackson Hooker. The Latin name of the work means "Illustrations of Plants". The illustrations are drawn from herbarium specimens of Hooker's herbarium, and subsequently the herbarium of...
. It was named for the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
botanist and plant collector Hermann Soyaux.
Upon naming it, Oliver wrote
Oliver placed the new genus in Passifloraceae and described one species, Soyauxia gabonensis.
In 1953, John Brenan
John Patrick Micklethwait Brenan
John Patrick Micklethwait Brenan was a British botanist. He was born June 19, 1917 in Chislehurst and died September 26, 1985 at Kew. He is buried at St. Anne's Church, Kew....
put Soyauxia in Medusandraceae
Medusandraceae
Medusandra is a genus of flowering plants in the family Peridiscaceae. It has two species, Medusandra richardsiana and Medusandra mpomiana. M. richardsiana is the most common and well known. Both species are native to Cameroon and adjacent countries. Medusandra was named by John Brenan in 1952...
, a family that he had established the year before. Brenan's classification was not generally followed by others, and John Hutchinson
John Hutchinson
John Hutchinson may refer to:*John Hutchinson , leader in the 17th century Puritan revolt in Britain*John Hutchinson , English writer...
wrote a detailed account of why he thought that Soyauxia and Medusandra were not closely related.
In 2007, in the first comparison of DNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
s to include Soyauxia, it was shown that Soyauxia is sister to a clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
of two South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n trees, Peridiscus and Whittonia. The authors recommended that Soyauxia be moved to Peridiscaceae. The position of Soyauxia within Peridiscaceae was clarified in 2009, with the inclusion of Medusandra in a phylogenetic study. In that study, it was shown that Brenan's concept of Medusandraceae is paraphyletic over Peridiscaceae sensu stricto, but that Brenan had been prescient in his perception of a relationship between Medusandra and Soyauxia. The authors recommended that Medusandra as well as Soyauxia be transferred to Peridiscaceae.
External links
- http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do;jsessionid=095DC16BF2A50ADF27FB6D715D6B2AF7?find_family=&find_genus=Soyauxia+&find_species=&find_infrafamily=&find_infragenus=&find_infraspecies=&find_authorAbbrev=&find_includePublicationAuthors=on&find_includePublicationAuthors=off&find_includeBasionymAuthors=on&find_includeBasionymAuthors=off&find_publicationTitle=&find_isAPNIRecord=on&find_isAPNIRecord=false&find_isGCIRecord=on&find_isGCIRecord=false&find_isIKRecord=on&find_isIKRecord=false&find_rankToReturn=all&output_format=normal&find_sortByFamily=on&find_sortByFamily=off&query_type=by_query&back_page=plantsearchSoyauxia] At: IPNI
- Soyauxia At:Index Nominum Genericorum At: References At: NMNH Department of Botany At: Research and Collections At: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History