Eriolaena is a genus of flowering plants. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included now in the recently expanded Malvaceae.[2] The genus is distributed in Asia and eastern Africa, from southern China through Indochina to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and coastal Mozambique.[1][3][4]

Eriolaena
Eriolaena quinquelocularis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Subfamily: Dombeyoideae
Genus: Eriolaena
DC. (1823)[1]
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]
  • Dendroleandria Arènes (1956)
  • Eriochlaena (orth. var.)
  • Helmiopsiella Arènes (1956)
  • Helmiopsis H.Perrier (1945)
  • Jackia Spreng. nom. illeg.
  • Microchlaena Wall ex Wight & Arn. (1833), nom. superfl.
  • Schillera Rchb. (1828)
  • Wallichia DC. (1823) (non Roxb.: preoccupied)

These plants are trees or shrubs. They usually have single or paired white or yellow flowers, but some species have larger inflorescences. The fruit is a hard capsule with winged seeds.[3] The winged seeds make the genus distinctive in its family.[5]

The former Madagascan genera Helmiopsiella and Helmiopsis are now considered synonyms of Eriolaena.[1] These genera were named in honour of C. Helm, German clergyman in Berlin and amateur botanist.[6]

Species edit

27 species are currently accepted.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Eriolaena DC.. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  2. ^ Hinsley, S. R. (2007). Synonymy of Malvaceae.
  3. ^ a b Eriolaena. Flora of China. eFloras.
  4. ^ a b Dorr LJ, Wurdack KJ (2018) A new disjunct species of Eriolaena (Malvaceae, Dombeyoideae) from Continental Africa.
  5. ^ The Eriolaena Page. Malvaceae.info.
  6. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2018). Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition [Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2018. ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5. S2CID 187926901. Retrieved 1 January 2021.