''Strombosia'' is a
plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
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 about 10 species in the family
Olacaceae
Olacaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Santalales. They are woody plants, native throughout the tropical regions of the world. , the circumscription of the family varies; some sources maintain a broad family, others split it int ...
.
[ It has also been classified in the family Strombosiaceae.][ The generic name is from the ]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 ...
', meaning "pear-shaped", referring to the fruit.[
]
Description
''Strombosia'' species grow as shrubs or trees. The flowers are bisexual with 5 petals. The fruits are drupes
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a s ...
(pitted) with a thin, fleshy pericarp
Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits.
Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...
.[
]
Distribution and habitat
''Strombosia'' species are distributed mostly in tropical Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, with others in tropical 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 ...
. Their habitat is typically lowland forests.[
]
Species
, Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
History
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...
recognised 11 species:[
* '' Strombosia ceylanica''
* '' Strombosia fleuryana''
* '' Strombosia gossweileri''
* '' Strombosia grandifolia''
* '' Strombosia nana''
* '' Strombosia javanica''
* '' Strombosia nigropunctata''
* '' Strombosia philippinensis''
* '' Strombosia pustulata''
* '' Strombosia scheffleri''
* '' Strombosia zenkeri''
]
References
Olacaceae
Santalales genera
{{Santalales-stub