''Landiopsis'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus of

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 belonging to the family

Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...

. It only contains one known species, ''Landiopsis capuronii''. It is native to

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 ...

Description

''Landiopsis capuronii'' is a shrub which grows 2 to 5 meters high.

Range and habitat

''Landiopsis capuronii'' is native to northern Madagascar. There are eight known subpopulations in

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

and northern

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

regions. It inhabits dry deciduous forests between 10 and 600 meters elevation.

Conservation and threats

The species is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

from human activities, including

shifting cultivation Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, then abandoned while post-disturbance fallow vegetation is allowed to freely grow while the cultivator moves on to another plot. The period of cul ...

and logging. There ia a subpopulation in

Loky Manambato Loky-Manambato is a protected area near Daraina in northern Madagascar, in the northern part of the Vohemar District. It is located in northern Sava Region, bounded on the north by the Loky River, on the south by the Manambato River, and on the ...

protected area.

Name

The genus name of ''Landiopsis'' is in honour of

Jérôme Lalande Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (; 11 July 1732 – 4April 1807) was a French astronomer, freemason and writer. He is known for having estimated a precise value of the astronomical unit (the distance from the Earth to the Sun) using measu ...

(1732–1807), a French astronomer,

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and writer. The Latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

of ''capuronii'' refers to Botanist René Paul Raymond Capuron (1921–1971) who originally described the species. Both genus and species were first described and published in Adansonia, séries 3, Vol.20 on page 132 in 1998.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q5969901, from2=Q15469149 Mussaendeae Monotypic Rubiaceae genera Endemic flora of Madagascar Flora of the Madagascar dry deciduous forests Plants described in 1845