''Ochna'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

comprising 79

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of evergreen trees, shrubs and shrublets belonging to 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

Ochnaceae Ochnaceae is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants in the Order (biology), order Malpighiales.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Can ...

. These species are native to

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

woodlands of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

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 ...

, the

Mascarenes The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Species of this genus are usually called ochnas, bird's-eye bushes or Mickey-mouse plants, a name derived from the shape of the drupelet

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

. The name of this genus comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word '' ὄχνη'' (''ókhnē''), used by

Theocritus Theocritus (; , ''Theokritos''; ; born 300 BC, died after 260 BC) was a Greek poet from Sicily, Magna Graecia, and the creator of Ancient Greek pastoral poetry. Life Little is known of Theocritus beyond what can be inferred from his writings ...

and meaning "wild pear", as the leaves are similar in appearance. Some species, including ''

Ochna integerrima ''Ochna integerrima'', popularly called yellow ''Mai'' flower (, ''hoa mai'', ''hoàng mai'' in southern Vietnam, although in the north, ''mai'' usually refers to ''Prunus mume''), is a plant species in the genus ''Ochna'' () and family Ochnaceae ...

'' (yellow ''Mai'' flower) and '' O. serrulata'' (bird's eye plant), are cultivated as decorative plants.

Distribution

Species of this genus are found in the

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

Tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

, in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

, the

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Indo-China Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

, and southeastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Species

79 species are accepted. *''

Ochna afzelii ''Ochna'' is a genus comprising 79 species of evergreen trees, shrubs and shrublets belonging to the flowering plant family Ochnaceae. These species are native to tropical woodlands of Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and Asia. Species of thi ...

'' *''

Ochna afzelioides ''Ochna'' is a genus comprising 79 species of evergreen trees, shrubs and shrublets belonging to the flowering plant family Ochnaceae. These species are native to tropical woodlands of Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and Asia. Species of thi ...

'' *''

Ochna andravinensis ''Ochna'' is a genus comprising 79 species of evergreen trees, shrubs and shrublets belonging to the flowering plant family Ochnaceae. These species are native to tropical woodlands of Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and Asia. Species of thi ...

'' *''

Ochna angustata ''Ochna angustata'' is a species of plant in the family Ochnaceae. It is endemic to Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania ...

'' *''

Ochna apetala ''Ochna'' is a genus comprising 79 species of evergreen trees, shrubs and shrublets belonging to the flowering plant family Ochnaceae. These species are native to tropical woodlands of Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and Asia. Species of thi ...

'' *''

Ochna arborea ''Ochna arborea'' is a species of flowering plant in the Ochnaceae family. References arborea Arborea is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy, whose economy is largely based on agriculture and cattle breeding ...

'' *'' Ochna atropurpurea'' *'' Ochna bakeriana'' *'' Ochna barbertonensis'' *'' Ochna barbosae'' – sand plane, sand ochna *'' Ochna baronii'' *'' Ochna beirensis'' *'' Ochna boiviniana'' *'' Ochna bracteosa'' *'' Ochna braunii'' *'' Ochna calodendron'' *'' Ochna ciliata'' *'' Ochna cinnabarina'' *'' Ochna citrina'' *'' Ochna comorensis'' *'' Ochna confusa'' *'' Ochna cyanophylla'' *'' Ochna dolicharthros'' *'' Ochna gamblei'' *'' Ochna gambleoides'' *'' Ochna gamostigmata'' *'' Ochna glauca'' - blue–leaved ochna *'' Ochna hackarsii'' *'' Ochna hiernii'' *'' Ochna holstii'' – red ironwood, red ironwood ochna *'' Ochna holtzii'' *'' Ochna humblotiana'' *''

Ochna inermis ''Ochna'' is a genus comprising 79 species of evergreen trees, shrubs and shrublets belonging to the flowering plant family Ochnaceae. These species are native to tropical woodlands of Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and Asia. Species of thi ...

'' – stunted plane, boat-fruited ochna *'' Ochna insculpta'' *''

'' – yellow ''Mai'' flower (for Tet in southern Vietnam) *'' Ochna jabotapita'' *'' Ochna katangensis'' *'' Ochna kirkii'' *'' Ochna lanceolata'' *'' Ochna latisepala'' *'' Ochna leptoclada'' *'' Ochna leucophloeos'' *'' Ochna louvelii'' – besarandrana, menahy *'' Ochna macrantha'' *'' Ochna macrocalyx'' *'' Ochna madagascariensis'' *'' Ochna maguirei'' *'' Ochna manikensis'' *'' Ochna mauritiana'' *'' Ochna membranacea'' *'' Ochna micrantha'' *'' Ochna multiflora'' *'' Ochna natalitia'' – Natal plane, showy ochna *'' Ochna obtusata'' *'' Ochna ovata'' *'' Ochna oxyphylla'' *'' Ochna pervilleana'' *'' Ochna polyarthra'' *'' Ochna polycarpa'' *'' Ochna polyneura'' *''

Ochna pretoriensis ''Ochna'' is a genus comprising 79 species of evergreen trees, shrubs and shrublets belonging to the flowering plant family Ochnaceae. These species are native to tropical woodlands of Africa, Madagascar, the Mascarenes and Asia. Species of thi ...

'' – Magalies plane, Magalies ochna *'' Ochna pseudoprocera'' *'' Ochna puberula'' *''

Ochna pulchra ''Ochna pulchra'', also known as Lekkerbreek (Afrikaans 'breaking easily', i.e. 'brittle'), is a small deciduous southern African tree up to 5 m, commonly found on deep sandy soil and rocky slopes, and belonging to the tropical family of Ochnacea ...

'' – peeling plane, peeling ochna *'' Ochna pumila'' *'' Ochna pygmaea'' *'' Ochna rhizomatosa'' *'' Ochna richardsiae'' *'' Ochna rovumensis'' *'' Ochna sambiranensis'' *'' Ochna schliebenii'' *'' Ochna schweinfurthiana'' *''

Ochna serrulata ''Ochna serrulata'' (commonly known as the small-leaved plane, carnival ochna, bird's eye bush, Mickey mouse plant or Mickey Mouse bush due to the plant's ripe blackfruit, which upside down resembles the ears of Mickey Mouse, and bright-red sepal ...

'' (syns. ''O. atropurpurea'', ''O. multiflora'') – carnival ochna, Mickey mouse bush *'' Ochna staudtii'' *'' Ochna stolzii'' *'' Ochna thomasiana'' *'' Ochna thouvenotii'' *'' Ochna vaccinoides''

References

External links

* {{taxonbar, from=Q573859 Ochnaceae genera Paleotropical flora Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus