''Denhamia'' is a

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 ...

of plants within the family

Celastraceae The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 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 s ...

, with species in Australia and New Caledonia. The species inhabit a variety of environments, from

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...

to semi-arid

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

. All species grow as shrubs or small trees up to 10 metres in height. The genus is composed of nine species, with two currently unnamed species: *''

Denhamia celastroides ''Denhamia'' is a genus of plants within the family Celastraceae, with species in Australia and New Caledonia. The species inhabit a variety of environments, from rainforest to semi-arid savanna. All species grow as shrubs or small trees up to 1 ...

'' *''

Denhamia fournieri ''Denhamia'' is a genus of plants within the family Celastraceae, with species in Australia and New Caledonia. The species inhabit a variety of environments, from rainforest to semi-arid savanna. All species grow as shrubs or small trees up to ...

'' *''

Denhamia moorei ''Denhamia'' is a genus of plants within the family Celastraceae, with species in Australia and New Caledonia. The species inhabit a variety of environments, from rainforest to semi-arid savanna. All species grow as shrubs or small trees up to 1 ...

'' *''

Denhamia obscura ''Denhamia'' is a genus of plants within the family Celastraceae, with species in Australia and New Caledonia. The species inhabit a variety of environments, from rainforest to semi-arid savanna. All species grow as shrubs or small trees up to 1 ...

'' *''

Denhamia oleaster ''Denhamia oleaster'' is a shrub or small tree within the family Celastraceae, endemic to Queensland. The species inhabits a variety of environments, from monsoon forest to semi-arid savanna and occurs on a broad range of soil types. In more hu ...

'' *''

Denhamia parviflora ''Denhamia'' is a genus of plants within the family Celastraceae, with species in Australia and New Caledonia. The species inhabit a variety of environments, from rainforest to semi-arid savanna. All species grow as shrubs or small trees up to 1 ...

'' *''

Denhamia pittosporoides ''Denhamia'' is a genus of plants within the family Celastraceae, with species in Australia and New Caledonia. The species inhabit a variety of environments, from rainforest to semi-arid savanna. All species grow as shrubs or small trees up to 1 ...

'' **'' Denhamia pittosporoides subsp. pittosporoides'' **'' Denhamia pittosporoides subsp. angustifolia'' *''

Denhamia viridissima ''Denhamia'' is a genus of plants within the family Celastraceae, with species in Australia and New Caledonia. The species inhabit a variety of environments, from rainforest to semi-arid savanna. All species grow as shrubs or small trees up to 1 ...

'' *''Denhamia'' sp. Jardine River *''Denhamia'' sp. Junee Tableland Some authors regard Denhamia as a

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

genus which should properly include the Australasian ''

Maytenus ''Maytenus'' ''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. Members of the genus are distributed throughout Central and South America, Southeast Asia, Micronesia and Australasia, the Indi ...

'' species.

References

McKenna, M.J., M.P. Simmons, C.D. Bacon and J.A. Lombardi. 2011. “Delimitation of the segregate genera of Maytenus sensu lato (Celastraceae) based on morphological and molecular characters.” Systematic Botany 36: 922–932. Celastraceae Celastrales genera Flora of Australia {{Celastraceae-stub