''Protorhus'' is a small
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of
Afrotropical
The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...
trees in the family
Anacardiaceae
The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce ...
. It is
dioecious
Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproducti ...
, with male and female flowers on separate plants.
Taxonomy
''Protorhus'' is placed in
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...
Rhoeae, subfamily
Anacardioideae
Anacardioideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Anacardiaceae
The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of t ...
of the family Anacardiaceae. The genus ''
Abrahamia'' with 19 Madagascan taxa was separated from ''Protorhus'' in 2004.(Pell 2004)
Species
The species are:
* ''
Protorhus fulva''
Engl. –
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
* ''
Protorhus longifolia''
(Bernh.) Engl. –
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...
* ''
Protorhus thouarsii''
Formerly listed;
* ''Protorhus buxifolia''
H. Perrier, transferred to ''
Abrahamia buxifolia''
(H. Perrier) Randrian. & Lowry
References
Bibliography
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9063326
Anacardiaceae genera
Dioecious plants