''Aphaerema'' was formerly a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the

Flacourtiaceae The Flacourtiaceae is a defunct family of flowering plants whose former members have been scattered to various families, mostly to the Achariaceae and Salicaceae. It was so vaguely defined that hardly anything seemed out of place there and it bec ...

, consisting of one

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of small shrubs, '' Aphaerema spicata'', which is native to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Later studies indicated that ''Aphaerema'' should be classified in the willow family,

Salicaceae The Salicaceae are the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') includes the willows, poplars. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly expanded the circumsc ...

, and combined with the genus ''

Abatia ''Abatia'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Raleighia'' George Gardner (botanist), Gardner) is a genus of about ten species of Central America, Central and South American trees in the family Salicaceae (following the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classif ...

''.Alford, M.H. 2006. Nomenclatural innovations in neotropical Salicaceae. ''Novon'' 16(3): 293–298. Because the name ''Abatia spicata'' was already used, the species was given the new name ''

Abatia angeliana ''Abatia'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Raleighia'' George Gardner (botanist), Gardner) is a genus of about ten species of Central America, Central and South American trees in the family Salicaceae (following the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classif ...

'', in honor of Brazilian botanist João Angely. ''Aphaerema'' (or ''Abatia'' including ''Aphaerema'') is one of the few groups of Salicaceae with opposite leaves.

References

Salicaceae Historically recognized angiosperm genera Salicaceae genera {{Salicaceae-stub