''Cuviera'' is a

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 ...

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 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 ...

Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...

native to tropical Africa. It was originally described by

Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss people, Swiss botany, botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple ...

in 1807 and is named after the French naturalist

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

Description

The species form a homogeneous group that is well characterized by their striped petals, many-flowered inflorescences and usually ant holes in the twigs. The bracts are recaulescent, which means that the first node of the inflorescence is bare and the lowest bracts are inserted at the second node.

Distribution and habitat

The genus is found in the Guineo-Congolian rainforest zone. The centre of diversity is the Lower Guinean forests; two species occur in the

Upper Guinean forests The Upper Guinean forests is a tropical seasonal forest region of West Africa. The Upper Guinean forests extend from Guinea and Sierra Leone in the west through Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana to Togo in the east, and a few hundred kilometers in ...

, and only '' C. angolensis'' extends into the

Congolian forests The Congolian rainforests ( French: ''Forêts tropicales congolaises'') are a broad belt of lowland tropical moist broadleaf forests which extend across the basin of the Congo River and its tributaries in Central Africa. Description The Congol ...

. Most species are relatively light demanding, favouring secondary or riverine forest, but some are found in the understory as well. They often grow in clusters.

Taxonomy

At one time, the genus '' Globulostylis'' was considered as a subgenus of ''Cuviera'', but it has been re-established as an accepted genus.

Species

Accepted species according to the latest revision. * '' Cuviera acutiflora''

DC. Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

- from Liberia to Equatorial Guinea * '' Cuviera angolensis'' Welw. ex K.Schum. - Zaïre (Congo-Kinshasa or Democratic Republic of Congo), Cabinda, Angola * '' Cuviera le-testui'' Pellegr. - Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Zaïre (Congo-Kinshasa or Democratic Republic of Congo) * '' Cuviera longiflora'' Hiern - Nigeria, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon,

Bioko Bioko (; ; ; historically known as Fernando Pó, ) is an island of Equatorial Guinea. It is located south of the coast of Cameroon, and northwest of the northernmost part of mainland Equatorial Guinea. Malabo, on the north coast of the is ...

* '' Cuviera macroura'' K.Schum. - Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cameroon * '' Cuviera physinodes'' K.Schum. - Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon * '' Cuviera pierrei'' N.Hallé - Equatorial Guinea, Gabon * '' Cuviera subuliflora''

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

- Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Zaïre (Congo-Kinshasa or Democratic Republic of Congo), Congo-Brazzaville, Nigeria, Gulf of Guinea Islands * '' Cuviera trilocularis'' Hiern - Nigeria, Cameroon * '' Cuviera truncata''

Hutch. John Hutchinson (7 April 1884 Blindburn, Northumberland – 2 September 1972 London) was an English botanist, taxonomist and author.''A Botanist in Southern Africa'' John Hutchinson (London, 1946) Life and career Born in Blindburn, Wark on Ty ...

& Dalziel - Nigeria, Cameroon ;formerly included The following species are excluded from ''Cuviera'' based on morphological and molecular data, some of which have not yet been formally transferred to other genera. * ''Cuviera australis'' K.Schum. = '' Vangueria lasiantha'' (

Sond. Otto Wilhelm Sonder (18 June 1812, Bad Oldesloe – 21 November 1881) was a German botanist and pharmacist. Life A native of Holstein, Sonder studied at Kiel University, where he sat pharmaceutical examinations in 1835, before becoming the prop ...

)

- Mozambique, South Africa * ''Cuviera bolo'' Aubrèv. & Pellegr. = '' Robynsia glabrata''

- Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria * '' Cuviera calycosa'' Wernham - Nigeria, Cameroon, Zaïre (Congo-Kinshasa or Democratic Republic of Congo), Congo-Brazzaville * '' Cuviera migeodii'' Verdc. - Tanzania * '' Cuviera nigrescens'' (Elliott ex Oliv.) Wernham - from Liberia to Zaïre (Congo-Kinshasa or Democratic Republic of Congo) * '' Cuviera schliebenii'' Verdc. - Tanzania, Mozambique * '' Cuviera semseii'' Verdc. - Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique * '' Cuviera tomentosa'' Verdc. - Tanzania, Mozambique

References

External links

''Cuviera'' in the World Checklist of Rubiaceae
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5197050 Rubiaceae genera Vanguerieae