''Leptopus'', the maidenbushes, are 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 ...

of plants in the family

Phyllanthaceae Phyllanthaceae is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants in the eudicot Order (biology), order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae.Kenneth J. Wurdack and Charles C. Davis. 2009. "Malpighiales phylogeneti ...

native to southern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

from the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

east to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Maluku Maluku may refer to: Places * Maluku Islands, an archipelago that is part of Indonesia ** List of the Maluku Islands * Maluku (province), a province of Indonesia comprising the central and southern parts of the archipelago * North Maluku, a provin ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Flora of China Vol. 11 Page 169 雀舌木属 que she mu shu ''Leptopus'' Decaisne in Jacquemont, Voy. Inde. 4(Bot.): 155. 1835.
/ref> The plants are

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...

and

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s with

simple Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by John ...

entire Entire may refer to: * Entire function, a function that is holomorphic on the whole complex plane * Entire (animal), an indication that an animal is not neutered * Entire (botany) This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions o ...

leaves and small, green

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s. ''Leptopus'' is one of eight genera in the tribe

Poranthereae Poranthereae is a tribe in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. It is one of ten tribes in the family, and one of four tribes in the subfamily Phyllanthoideae. Poranthereae comprises about 111 species, distributed into eight genera. The largest gene ...

Petra Hoffmann, Hashendra S. Kathriarachchi, and Kenneth J. Wurdack. 2006. "A Phylogenetic Classification of Phyllanthaceae." ''Kew Bulletin'' 61(1):37-53. and comprises 9

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), ...

. Maria S. Vorontsova and Petra Hoffmann. 2008. "A phylogenetic classification of tribe Poranthereae (Phyllanthaceae)." ''Kew Bulletin'' 63(1):41-59. It is the

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

of ''

Actephila ''Actephila'' is a genus of about 36 species of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Phyllanthaceae native to Southeast Asia, China, the Himalayas, Papuasia and northern Australia. Plants in the genus ''Actephila'' are Monoecy, monoec ...

''. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is '' Leptopus cordifolius''.''Leptopus'' In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In:

Regnum Vegetabile The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and ...

(see ''External links'' below). The

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...

is derived from two

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words, ''leptos'', "thin, slender, or small", and ''pous'', "foot", a reference to slender

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume II. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, USA. London, UK. . The genus was first described in 1836Tropicos, ''Leptopus'' Decne.
/ref> and revised in 2009. Maria S. Vorontsova and Petra Hoffmann. 2009. "Revision of the genus ''Leptopus'' (Phyllanthaceae, Euphorbiaceae sensu lato)". ''Kew Bulletin'' 64(4):627-644. ''Leptopus fangdingianus'' had been placed by some authors in a separate genus, ''Archileptopus'', but it was shown in 2007 that recognition of ''Archileptopus'' makes ''Leptopus''

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

.Maria S. Vorontsova, Petra Hoffmann, Olivier Maurin, and Mark W. Chase. 2007. "Phylogenetics of tribe Poranthereae (Phyllanthaceae)." ''American Journal of Botany'' 94(12):2026-2040. ''Phyllanthopsis phyllanthoides'' has been placed in ''Leptopus'' as well as in ''

Andrachne ''Andrachne'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Phyllanthaceae described by Linnaeus in 1753. It is one of eight genera in the tribe Poranthereae. Maria S. Vorontsova and Petra Hoffmann. 2008. "A phylogenetic classification of tribe P ...

''. In 2007, it was shown to not properly belong to either genus and in 2008 was assigned to a new genus, ''

Phyllanthopsis ''Phyllanthopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is one of the eight genera in the tribe Poranthereae. It has two species. The type species is '' Phyllanthopsis phyllanthoides''. ''Phyllanthopsis'' is native to ...

''. ;Species ;formerly included moved to other genera: '' Chorisandrachne

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae. Euphorbias range from tiny annual plants to large and long-lived trees, with perhaps the tallest being ''Eu ...

Notoleptopus ''Notoleptopus'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is one of eight genera in the tribe Poranthereae. The sole species is ''Notoleptopus decaisnei''. It is a monoecious shrub, native to Australia, New Guine ...

References

External links

Leptopus
At:
Index Nominum Genericorum
At:

At:

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2625486 Phyllanthaceae Phyllanthaceae genera Taxa named by Joseph Decaisne