''Edgeworthia'' (paper bush) is a genus of plants in the family
Thymelaeaceae
The Thymelaeaceae are a cosmopolitan family (biology), family of flowering plants composed of 50 genera (listed below) and 898 species.Zachary S. Rogers (2009 onwards)A World Checklist of Thymelaeaceae (version 1) Missouri Botanical Garden Webs ...
. When the genus was first described, it was published twice in the same year (1841), in two separate publications: ';
[ and ''Denkschriften der Regensburgischen Botanischen Gesellschaft.''][ The genus was named in honour of Michael Pakenham Edgeworth, an Irish botanist and official in the Bengal Civil Service, then stationed in ]India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, and for his half-sister, writer Maria Edgeworth
Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel i ...
.[ In: ''Denkschriften der Regensburgischen Botanischen Gesellschaft.'' ]Regensburg
Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...
. iii. (1841) 280. t. 6.
Trichotomous branching
At least one member of the genus, '' Edgeworthia chrysantha'', has the extremely unusual ability to branch trichotomously - the apical meristem forming the end of each stem splits into three sections at once, leading to its Japanese name . This trait is shared with no other known 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 ...
.
Species
Species list from both GRIN
References
Thymelaeoideae
Thymelaeaceae genera
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