''Claoxylon'' is a
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...
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 ...
in the
spurge family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
,
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 a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...
, comprising
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 ...
subshrub
A subshrub ( Latin ''suffrutex'') or dwarf shrub is a short shrub, and is a woody plant. Prostrate shrub is a related term. "Subshrub" is often used interchangeably with "bush".Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their ...
s to small trees. It was first described as a genus in 1824.
[ The genus is distributed in paleotropical areas: ]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 ...
through South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, Malesia
Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. ...
to Melanesia
Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, ...
, Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
, and Australia. Half of the species are in Malesia
Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. ...
. According to a molecular phylogenetic study by Wurdack, Hoffmann & Chase (2005), ''Claoxylon'' is sister to '' Erythrococca'' (50 species, Africa), and together they form the top of a Hennigian comb-like phylogeny.[Forster, P.I. (2007). A taxonomic revision of ''Claoxylon'' A.Juss. (Euphorbiaceae) in Australia. Austrobaileya 7: 451-472.]
The genus ''Claoxylon'' is usually easily recognizable because the dried leaves in herbariums of most species are rough (few are smooth).
;Species[World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
/ref>
;Formerly included[
moved to other genera ''(]Acalypha
''Acalypha'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. It is one of the largest euphorb genera, with approximately 450 to 462 species. The genus name ''Acalypha'' is from the ...
, Croton, Discoclaoxylon, Erythrococca, Lobanilia
''Lobanilia'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae and the sole genus of the subtribe
Subtribe is a taxonomic category ranking which is below the rank of tribe and above genus. The standard suffix for a subtribe is -ina (in animals) o ...
, Macaranga
''Macaranga'' is a large genus of Old World tropical trees of the family Euphorbiaceae and the only genus in the subtribe Macaranginae (tribe Acalypheae). Native to Africa, Australasia, Asia and various islands of the Indian and Pacific Oceans ...
, Mallotus, Micrococca
''Micrococca'' is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae, first described in 1849. It is native to tropical Africa, Madagascar and Asia (Old World Tropics).Barberá, P., Velayos, M. & Aedo, C. (2013). Annotated checklist and identification key ...
, Orfilea)''
References
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5125840
Acalypheae
Dioecious plants
Euphorbiaceae genera