''Richeria grandis'' is a tree species 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 ...

which ranges from the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

to South America. The species is reputed to have aphrodisiac properties.

Description

''Richeria grandis'' is a large, evergreen tree with brown bark and a brownish-orange inner bark. It has simple, alternate leaves with an entire margin. The leaves are large, generally long up to long and wide. The species is

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

—male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. The male inflorescences are long with 3-7 flowers; the female inflorescences are long. The fruit is a capsule, about long.

Taxonomy

The species was first described by

Martin Vahl Martin Henrichsen Vahl (10 October 1749 – 24 December 1804) was a Denmark-Norway, Danish-Norwegian botanist, herbalist and zoologist. Biography Martin Vahl was born in Bergen, Norway and attended Bergen Cathedral School. He studied botany at ...

in 1797. The species was placed in the

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

, but that family was split up after molecular work showed that the family was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. ''Richeria'' was moved into a new family, the

, when the subfamily Phyllanthoideae was elevated as a result of this split in the Euphorbiaceae.

Ecology

''Richeria grandis'' is a common species in

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

s in parts of the Caribbean and South America. Ariel Lugo and colleagues reported that the species suffered higher levels of damage than most trees after

Hurricane David Hurricane David was a devastating tropical cyclone which significantly damaged and killed many people in Dominica and the Dominican Republic in August 1979, and was the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the country in recorded history ...

hit the island of

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

in 1979. The species is an aluminium accumulator, and is capable of accumulating as much as 15,000 ppm of aluminium in its leaves. The plant was able to tolerate the potentially toxic levels of aluminium primarily by depositing the metal in the

cell wall A cell wall is a structural layer that surrounds some Cell type, cell types, found immediately outside the cell membrane. It can be tough, flexible, and sometimes rigid. Primarily, it provides the cell with structural support, shape, protection, ...

s of its leaves. The

polypore Polypores, also called bracket or shelf fungi, are a morphological group of basidiomycete-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi that form large fruiting bodies called conks, which are typically woody, circular, shelf- or bracket-shaped, ...

'' Porogramme richeriae'' was described based on collections from the trunk of ''R. grandis'' in Guadeloupe.

Uses

''Richeria grandis'' is one of several species including ''

Parinari campestris ''Parinari campestris'' is a species of tree in the plant family Chrysobalanaceae which is native to Trinidad, the Guianas, Venezuela and Brazil. It is reputed to have aphrodisiac properties. Description The species is a tree which grows up to ...

'' and ''

Roupala montana ''Roupala montana'' is a species of shrub or tree in the family Proteaceae which is native to much of the Neotropics. It is a plant morphology, morphologically variable species with four recognised varieties. The species is used medicinally in V ...

'' which known by the common name ''bois bandé''. These species are reputed to have

aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases libido, sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. These substances range from a variety of plants, spices, and foods to synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs, such as ...

properties.

References

External links

Tropicos, Name – ''Richeria grandis'' var. ''longifolia'' (Baill.) Müll. Arg.Euphorbiaceae ''Richeria grandis'' M.Vahl.Discover Life – Euphorbiaceae: ''Richeria grandis'' Vahl etc.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2908949 Medicinal plants Phyllanthaceae Plants described in 1797 Taxa named by Martin Vahl