''Meryta'' is a genus in the

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 ...

family

Araliaceae The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants commonly called the ginseng family. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely ...

. There are 28 described species in the genus and a number of undescribed species, all small, resinous trees of the subtropical and tropical

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, characterized by huge, simple leaves and a dioecious

sexual system A sexual system is a distribution of male and female functions across organisms in a species. The terms reproductive system and mating system have also been used as synonyms. Sexual systems play a key role in genetic variation and reproductive ...

, a unique combination in Araliaceae. ''Meryta'' has its center of diversity in

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

(11 endemic spp.). Phylogenetic analyses have placed ''Meryta'' as a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

genus in one of the three major clades of the Araliaciae, the

Polyscias ''Polyscias'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araliaceae. They bear pinnately compound leaves. In 2003, a checklist and nomenclator was published for Araliaceae.David G. Frodin and Rafaël Govaerts. 2003. ''World Checklist and Bibl ...

Pseudopanax ''Pseudopanax'' (Latin for "false ginseng") is a genus of seven species of evergreen plants that are endemic to New Zealand. Flowers of the genus occur in terminal umbels. Taxonomy A 2000 molecular study established that several species within ...

group, and more specifically in the Pacific Schefflera subclade.

Cultivation

Cultivation of ''Meryta'' species is possible in tropical or subtropical climates. They are valued for their dramatic foliage and tolerance of coastal conditions. Species encountered in cultivation include '' M. denhamii'' and ''M. sonchifolia'', native to

, '' M. latifolia'', native to

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

, and the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

species '' Meryta sinclairii''.

References

External links

Apiales genera Dioecious plants {{Araliaceae-stub