Glochidion

''Glochidion'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Phyllanthaceae, known as cheese trees or buttonwood in Australia, and leafflower trees in the scientific literature. It comprises about 170 species, distributed from Madagascar to the Pacific Islands. ''Glochidion'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including ''Aenetus eximia'' and '' Endoclita damor''. The Nicobarese people have attested to the medicinal properties found in ''G. calocarpum'', saying that its bark and seed are most effective in curing abdominal disorders associated with amoebiasis.

''Glochidion'' are of note in the fields of pollination biology and coevolution because they have a specialized mutualism with moths in the genus '' Epicephala'' (leafflower moths), in which the moths actively pollinate the flowers—thereby ensuring that the tree may produce viable seeds—but also lay eggs in the flowers' ovaries, where their larvae consume a subset of the developing seeds as nourishment. Other species of ''Epicephala'' are pollinators, and in some cases, non-pollinating seed predators, of certain species of plants in the genera ''Phyllanthus'' and '' Breynia'', both closely related to ''Glochidion''. This relationship is similar to those between figs and fig wasps and yuccas and yucca moths.

Although the genus ''Glochidion'' is native only to the Old World, the East Asian species '' Glochidion puberum'' has become naturalized at several locations in the U.S. state of Alabama.

In a 2006 revision of the Phyllanthaceae, it was recommended that ''Glochidion'' be subsumed in ''Phyllanthus''. New combinations in ''Phyllanthus'' have been published for Madagascar and the Pacific Islands, but most remain to be published.

Selected species

, Plants of the World Online accepts 169 species. Selected species include:

*''Glochidion apodogynum''
*''Glochidion barronense''
*''Glochidion benthamianum''
*''Glochidion bourdillonii''
*''Glochidion calocarpum''
*''Glochidion candolleanum'' (synonyms ''Glochidion pauciflorum'' and ''Glochidion sisparense'' )
*''Glochidion carrickii''
*''Glochidion christophersenii''
*'' Glochidion comitum''
*'' Glochidion disparipes''
*'' Glochidion eriocarpum''
*''Glochidion ferdinandi'' - cheese tree, buttonwood, pencil cedar, water gum, rain tree
:* var. ''ferdinandi''
:* var. ''pubens''
*'' Glochidion grantii''
*'' Glochidion harveyanum'' - buttonwood, daphne buttonwood
:* var. ''harveyanum''
:* var. ''pubescens''
*'' Glochidion hohenackeri''
** ''Glochidion hohenackeri'' var. ''hohenackeri''
** ''Glochidion hohenackeri'' var. ''johnstonei'' (synonym ''Glochidion johnstonei'' )
*'' Glochidion hylandii''
*'' Glochidion insulare''
*'' Glochidion lanceolarium''
*'' Glochidion lobocarpum''
*'' Glochidion longfieldiae''
*'' Glochidion manono''
*'' Glochidion marchionicum'' (synonym '' Glochidion tooviianum'' )
*'' Glochidion marianum''
*'' Glochidion moonii''
*'' Glochidion moorei''
*'' Glochidion myrtifolium''
*'' Glochidion nadeaudii''
*'' Glochidion nemorale'' (synonym ''Glochidion gardneri'' )
*'' Glochidion papenooense''
*'' Glochidion perakense'' - umbrella cheese tree, buttonwood
:* var. ''supra-axillare''
*'' Glochidion philippicum''
*'' Glochidion pitcairnense''
*'' Glochidion pruinosum''
*'' Glochidion puberum''
*'' Glochidion pungens''
*'' Glochidion raivavense''
*''Glochidion ramiflorum'' J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.
*'' Glochidion rapaense''
*'' Glochidion seemannii'' Müll.-Arg.
*'' Glochidion sessiliflorum''
:* var. ''pedicellatum''
:* var. ''sessiliflorum''
:* var. ''stylosum''
*'' Glochidion stellatum''
*'' Glochidion stylosum''
*'' Glochidion symingtonii''
*'' Glochidion taitense''
*'' Glochidion temehaniense''
*'' Glochidion xerocarpum''
*'' Glochidion zeylanicum''
**''Glochidion zeylanicum'' var. ''arborescens''
**''Glochidion zeylanicum'' var. ''arunachalense''
**''Glochidion zeylanicum'' var. ''paucicarpum''
** ''Glochidion zeylanicum'' var. ''tomentosum'' (synonym ''Glochidion tomentosum'' )
** ''Glochidion zeylanicum'' var. ''zeylanicum'' (synonym ''Glochidion sumatranum'' )

References

External links

Youtube video of a ''Glochidion lanceolarium'' flower being pollinated by an ''Epicephala lanceolaria'' moth

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1245856

Phyllanthaceae genera