''Crossopetalum'', commonly known as Christmas-berries or maiden berries, is a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Celastraceae The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 98 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales. The great majority of the genera are tropical, with only ''Celastrus'' (the staf ...

. It comprises about 30-40 species.

Description

''Crossopetalum'' taxa are shrubs or trees, with opposite or whorled persistent leaves with petiole and stipules. Inflorescences are axillary, regrouping white, pale green, reddish, or purplish radially symmetric flowers, with four sepals, four petals, and a four-carpellate pistil. Intrastaminal nectaries are annular and fleshy. Fruits are red drupes, with one-two seeds per fruit. It blooms and fruits all year lo

Etymology

The

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of the genus name ''Crossopetalum'' derives from the two

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

words (), meaning "fringe", and (), meaning "leaf of a flower". It alludes to the

fimbriate A fimbria (plural fimbriae, adjective fimbriate) is a Latin word that literally means "fringe." Fimbria or Fimbriate may also refer to: * ''Fimbria'' (bivalve), a genus of clams * Fimbria (female reproductive system), a fringe of tissue near the ...

petals of the type species (''C. rhacoma''). The synonym name ''Myginda'' is a taxonomic anagram derived from the name of the confamilial genus ''

Gyminda ''Gyminda'' (false box) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 98 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastra ...

''. The latter name is a taxonomic patronym honoring Franz von Mygind (1710 - 1789), a Danish-Austrian court official, who traveled to

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, collected plants with herbarium specimens hosted in the

Hungarian Natural History Museum The Hungarian Natural History Museum () in Budapest, dating back to 1802, houses the largest natural history collections of Hungary and the region. History of the museum Foundation In 1802, Count Ferenc Széchényi offered his library and h ...

in Budapest, and was a friend of

Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin Nikolaus Joseph Freiherr von Jacquin (16 February 172726 October 1817) was a scientist who studied medicine, chemistry and botany. Biography Born in Leiden in the Netherlands, he studied medicine at Leiden University, then moved first to Par ...

Systematics

According to

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 ...

References

Celastraceae Celastrales genera Constantly blooming plants {{Celastraceae-stub