''Molinaea'' is a 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

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1,858 accepted species. Examples include Aesculus, horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The ...

. Its native range is the Western Indian Ocean. It is found in

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 ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

. The genus name of ''Molinaea'' is in honour of Jean Desmoulins, also called Johannes Molinaeus (1530–1622), French doctor and botanist, student of

Jacques Daléchamps Jacques Daléchamps (1513, Caen – 1588) was a French botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ...

and

Guillaume Rondelet Guillaume Rondelet (27 September 150730 July 1566), also known as Rondeletus/Rondeletius, was Regius professor of medicine at the University of Montpellier in southern France and Chancellor of the University between 1556 and his death in 1566. He ...

. It was first described and published in Gen. Pl. on page 248 in 1789.

Known species

According to Kew: *'' Molinaea alternifolia'' *'' Molinaea andronensis'' *'' Molinaea brevipes'' *'' Molinaea laevis'' *'' Molinaea macrantha'' *'' Molinaea retusa'' *'' Molinaea sessilifolia'' *'' Molinaea tolambitou''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3066281 Sapindaceae Sapindaceae genera Plants described in 1789 Flora of the Western Indian Ocean