''Flueggea'', the bushweeds, is a genus of shrubs and trees in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

first described as a genus in 1806. It is widespread across much of

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 ...

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 ...

, and various oceanic islands, with a few species in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Flora of China Vol. 11 Page 177 白饭树属 bai fan shu shu ''Flueggea'' Willdenow, Sp. Pl. 4: 637, 757. 1805.
/ref> The genus is named after John Fluegge, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

cryptogamic

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. Members of this genus all have entire ovate leaves and minute 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 that form at the

leaf axils A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

in the form of fascicles or cymes. The fruits are

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone fruit, stone or pit (fruit), pit although many wikt:pip#Etymology 2, pips or seeds may be p ...

, of the size of

pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...

s. With the exception of '' F. verrucosa'', '' F. spirei'', and occasionally '' F. virosa'', they are

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 ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Flueggea'' consists of 12–16 species. Many members of the genus were formerly classified under the genus ''

Securinega ''Securinega'' is a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae, first described as a genus in 1789. As presently conceived, the genus is native to Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean. In the past, it was considered to be mu ...

''. ;Species ;Formerly included moved to other genera ''(

Leptopus ''Leptopus'', the maidenbushes, are a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae native to southern Asia from the Caucasus east to China and Maluku (province), Maluku. The plants are monoecious Herbaceous plant, herbs and shrubs with Simple lea ...

Margaritaria ''Margaritaria'' is a plant genus of the family Phyllanthaceae first published as a genus in 1782. It is the smallest pantropical genus of the Phyllanthaceae and, formerly, of the Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large ...

Meineckia ''Meineckia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Phyllanthaceae first described as a genus in 1858. ''Meineckia'' is one of eight genera in the tribe Poranthereae.Maria S. Vorontsova and Petra Hoffmann. 2008. "A phylogenetic classific ...

Ophiopogon ''Ophiopogon'' (lilyturf) is a genus of evergreen perennial plants native to warm temperate to tropical East, Southeast, and South Asia. Despite their grasslike appearance, they are not closely related to the true grasses, the Poaceae. The name ...

)''

References

{{Authority control Phyllanthaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Ludwig Willdenow Dioecious plants