''Eriolaena'' 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. Traditionally included 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 ...

Sterculiaceae Sterculiaceae was a family of flowering plant based on the genus '' Sterculia''. Genera formerly included in Sterculiaceae are now placed in the family Malvaceae, in the subfamilies: Byttnerioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae and Sterculioide ...

, it is included now in the recently expanded

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

.Hinsley, S. R. (2007)
Synonymy of Malvaceae
The genus is distributed in Asia and eastern Africa, from southern China through Indochina to India, Bangladesh, Nepal,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, and coastal

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

.''Eriolaena''.
Flora of China. eFloras.Dorr LJ, Wurdack KJ (2018
A new disjunct species of Eriolaena (Malvaceae, Dombeyoideae) from Continental Africa
These plants are trees or shrubs. They usually have single or paired white or yellow flowers, but some species have larger

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s. The fruit is a hard capsule with winged seeds. The winged seeds make the genus distinctive in its family.The ''Eriolaena'' Page.
Malvaceae.info. The former Madagascan genera ''Helmiopsiella'' and ''Helmiopsis'' are now considered synonyms of ''Eriolaena''. These genera were named in honour of C. Helm, German clergyman in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and amateur botanist.

Species

27 species are currently accepted. * '' Eriolaena barnettiae'' – Madagascar * '' Eriolaena bernieri'' – northern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena boivinii'' – northwestern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena calcicola'' – northwestern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena candollei'' Wall. – India and Bangladesh, Indochina, southern China * '' Eriolaena cheekii'' – Madagascar * '' Eriolaena ctenostegia'' – western Madagascar * '' Eriolaena glaberrima'' – northern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena hily'' – southwestern and southern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena hookeriana'' Wight & Arn. – India and Sri Lanka * '' Eriolaena leandrii'' – Madagascar * '' Eriolaena linearifolia'' – northern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena lushingtonii'' Dunn – Eastern Ghats (southern India) * '' Eriolaena madagascariensis'' – Madagascar * '' Eriolaena margaritae'' – Madagascar * '' Eriolaena parvifolia'' – southwestern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena poissonii'' – northwestern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena polyandra'' – northern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena pseudopopulus'' – northern Madagascar * ''

Eriolaena quinquelocularis ''Eriolaena'' is a genus of flowering plants. Traditionally included in the family (biology), family Sterculiaceae, it is included now in the recently expanded Malvaceae.Hinsley, S. R. (2007)Synonymy of Malvaceae The genus is distributed in Asia ...

'' (Wight & Arn.) Drury – India and Yunnan (China) * '' Eriolaena richardii'' – northern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena rigida'' – Madagascar * '' Eriolaena rulkensii'' Dorr – northern Mozambique * '' Eriolaena spectabilis'' (DC.) Planch. ex Mast. – Himalayas (India, Nepal, Bhutan), northern Myanmar, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi (China) * '' Eriolaena sphaerocarpa'' – northern Madagascar * '' Eriolaena stocksii'' – western and northeastern India * '' Eriolaena wallichii'' DC. – Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh (India), northern Myanmar, Yunnan (China)

References

Malvaceae genera Flora of the Indomalayan realm Flora of Mozambique Flora of Madagascar Taxa named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Malvaceae-stub