''Lasiodiscus'', commonly known as red-hair bushes, is a small plant genus in the family

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large Family (biology), family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 specie ...

. It is endemic to Africa and its adjacent islands.

Description

The small trees have opposite, often asymmetric leaves. As with ''

Colubrina ''Colubrina'' is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Rhamnaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Africa, the Americas, southern Asia, northern Australia, and the Indian Ocean islands. Names Common na ...

'', the flower ovaries are surrounded by a nectariferous disc that fills the receptacle.

Habitat

They regularly occur in the understorey of tropical forests, or alternatively in swamp forest. One species, ''L. rozeirae'', is limited to mountain forest understorey.

Relationships

''Lasiodiscus'' is morphologically similar to ''

'', which occurs in the Neotropics, Asia and Afrotropics, but preliminary molecular analysis failed to group them as nearest relatives.A phylogenetic analysis of Rhamnaceae using RBCL and TRNL-F plastid DNA sequences, J.E. Richardson et al., American Journal of Botany, 87(9), 2000.

Species

There are 9 accepted species: * ''

Lasiodiscus chevalieri ''Lasiodiscus'', commonly known as red-hair bushes, is a small plant genus in the family Rhamnaceae. It is endemic to Africa and its adjacent islands. Description The small trees have opposite, often asymmetric leaves. As with ''Colubrina'', th ...

'' Hutch. – * ''

Lasiodiscus fasciculiflorus ''Lasiodiscus fasciculiflorus'' is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Rhamnaceae that is native to forests of the West African tropics. It occurs from Sierra Leone to Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Niger ...

'' Engl. – Sierra Leone to Nigeria, w Cameroon and D.R.C. * ''

Lasiodiscus holtzii ''Lasiodiscus'', commonly known as red-hair bushes, is a small plant genus in the family Rhamnaceae. It is endemic to Africa and its adjacent islands. Description The small trees have opposite, often asymmetric leaves. As with ''Colubrina'', th ...

'' Engl. – East Africa * ''

Lasiodiscus mannii ''Lasiodiscus'', commonly known as red-hair bushes, is a small plant genus in the family Rhamnaceae. It is endemic to Africa and its adjacent islands. Description The small trees have opposite, often asymmetric leaves. As with ''Colubrina'', th ...

'' Hook. – central Africa * ''

Lasiodiscus marmoratus ''Lasiodiscus'', commonly known as red-hair bushes, is a small plant genus in the family Rhamnaceae. It is endemic to Africa and its adjacent islands. Description The small trees have opposite, often asymmetric leaves. As with ''Colubrina'', th ...

'' C.H. Wright – Cameroon * ''

Lasiodiscus mildbraedii ''Lasiodiscus mildbraedii'' is small tree in the family Rhamnaceae. It occurs locally along the African east coast from South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost countr ...

'' Engl. – African tropics and locally along east coast to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

* ''

Lasiodiscus pervillei ''Lasiodiscus'', commonly known as red-hair bushes, is a small plant genus in the family Rhamnaceae. It is endemic to Africa and its adjacent islands. Description The small trees have opposite, often asymmetric leaves. As with ''Colubrina'', th ...

'' Baill. – Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion and Comores : ''L. p. pervillei'' – widespread in Madagascar : ''L. p. ferrugineus'' (Verdc.) Figueiredo – local and vulnerable in East Africa * ''

Lasiodiscus rozeirae ''Lasiodiscus rozeirae'' is a small tree in the family Rhamnaceae. It was first described in 1958 by Arthur Wallis Exell after a specimen collected by Portuguese botanist Arnaldo Rozeira from São Tomé Island in the Gulf of Guinea The Gulf o ...

'' A.W. Exell – São Tomé in Gulf of Guinea, vulnerable * ''

Lasiodiscus usambarensis ''Lasiodiscus'', commonly known as red-hair bushes, is a small plant genus in the family Rhamnaceae. It is endemic to Africa and its adjacent islands. Description The small trees have opposite, often asymmetric leaves. As with ''Colubrina'', th ...

'' Engl. – Usambara Mountains and locally to Zimbabwe

References

External links

Flora of Zimbabwe

Madagascar Catalogue

Description of L. pervillei
Note: The ''Lasiodiscidae'' belongs to the

Foraminifera Foraminifera ( ; Latin for "hole bearers"; informally called "forams") are unicellular organism, single-celled organisms, members of a phylum or class (biology), class of Rhizarian protists characterized by streaming granular Ectoplasm (cell bio ...

and Reichel (1945) described the genus ''Lasiodiscus''. Rhamnaceae genera {{Rhamnaceae-stub