''Flacourtia'' 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

Salicaceae The Salicaceae are the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') includes the willows, poplars. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly expanded the circumsc ...

. It was previously placed in the now defunct family

Flacourtiaceae The Flacourtiaceae is a defunct family of flowering plants whose former members have been scattered to various families, mostly to the Achariaceae and Salicaceae. It was so vaguely defined that hardly anything seemed out of place there and it bec ...

. The generic name honors

Étienne de Flacourt Étienne de Flacourt (1607–1660) was a French governor of Madagascar, born in Orléans in 1607. He was named governor of Madagascar by the French East India Company in 1648. Flacourt restored order among the French soldiers, who had mutinied ...

(1607–1660), a governor of

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 ...

. It contains 23 species of

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s and small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s that are native to the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropics The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately ...

. Several species, especially ''Flacourtia indica'', are cultivated as ornamentals and for their

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s. The trunks of small trees are often guarded by branching spines.

Species

As accepted by

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 ...

; * '' Flacourtia amalotricha'' * '' Flacourtia cavaleriei'' * '' Flacourtia degeneri'' * '' Flacourtia flavescens'' * '' Flacourtia helferi'' * ''

Flacourtia indica ''Flacourtia indica'' (known commonly as ramontchi, governor's plum and Indian plum), is a species of flowering plant native to much of Africa and tropical and temperate parts of Asia. It has various uses, including folk medicine, fuel, animal foo ...

'' – southern

* '' Flacourtia inermis'' (Batoko plum) * '' Flacourtia jangomas'' – (Indian coffee plum)

Tropical Asia Tropical Asia refers to the entirety of the areas in Asia with a tropical climate. These areas are of geographic and economic importance due to their natural resources and biodiversity, which include many species of agricultural value. There are 16 ...

* '' Flacourtia kinabaluensis'' * '' Flacourtia latifolia'' * '' Flacourtia mollipila'' * '' Flacourtia mollis'' * '' Flacourtia montana'' * '' Flacourtia occidentalis'' * '' Flacourtia oppositifolia'' * '' Flacourtia ramontchi'' * '' Flacourtia rukam'' – (Rukam)

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

* '' Flacourtia subintegra'' * '' Flacourtia territorialis'' * '' Flacourtia tomentella'' * '' Flacourtia vitiensis'' * '' Flacourtia vogelii'' * '' Flacourtia zippelii'' GRIN (

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

and the

Agricultural Research Service The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area. ARS is charged with ext ...

) only accepts 5 species; ''Flacourtia indica'', ''Flacourtia inermis'', ''Flacourtia jangomas'', ''Flacourtia montana'' and ''Flacourtia rukam''.

Formerly placed here

*'' Xylosma flexuosa'' (Kunth) Hemsl. (as ''F. flexuosa'' Kunth)

References

External links

* * Salicaceae genera {{Salicaceae-stub