''Parsonsia'' is a genus of woody

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

s in the family

Apocynaceae Apocynaceae (, from '' Apocynum'', Greek for "dog-away") is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents, and vines, commonly known as the dogbane family, because some taxa were used as dog poison. Notable mem ...

. Species occur throughout

Indomalaya The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia. Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Ind ...

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

and

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

Description

The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are opposite, the shape and size of juvenile leaves often bearing little resemblance to the adult leaves. The

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latices are found in nature, but synthetic latices are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a wikt:milky, milky fluid, which is present in 10% of all floweri ...

may be clear and colourless, pale yellow or milky white. The flowers are green, white, cream, yellow, orange, red, pink or brown, sometimes with contrasting markings. These are followed by elongated pod-like capsules, the two follicles eventually separating to reveal numerous seeds with long, silky hairs.

Taxonomy

The genus was named and described in 1810 by botanist

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

in his paper ''On the Asclepiadeae'' published in ''Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society'' . He named the genus in honour of James Parsons (1705–1770), an English physician and Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. The generic name ''Parsonsia'' R.Br. (1810) is conserved against the earlier

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

''Parsonsia'' P.Browne which was given to a genus in the family

Lythraceae Lythraceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, including 32 genus, genera, with about 620 species of Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, and trees. The larger genera include ''Cuphea'' (275 spp.), ''Lagerstroemia'' (56), ''Nesaea (pl ...

. The latter genus is now included in ''

Cuphea ''Cuphea'' is a genus containing about 260 species of annual and perennial flowering plants native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species range from low-growing herbaceous plants to semi-woody shrubs up to tall. Com ...

''. ''Parsonsia'' is closely related to ''Artia'' and ''Prestonia''.

Species

Accepted species ;formerly included # ''Parsonsia balansae'' Baill. = '' Artia balansae'' (Baill.) Pichon ex Guillaumin # ''Parsonsia barbata'' Blume = '' Parameria laevigata'' (Juss.) Moldenke # ''Parsonsia brachycarpa'' Baill. = '' Artia brachycarpa'' (Baill.) Boiteau # ''Parsonsia bracteata'' Hook. & Arn. = '' Mandevilla pentlandiana'' (DC.) Woodson # ''Parsonsia corymbosa'' (Jacq.) R.Br. ex Steud. = ''

Pinochia corymbosa ''Pinochia corymbosa'', commonly known as Bejuco de San Juan, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae, native to the Greater Antilles (Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico). It was first described by Nikolaus Jo ...

'' (Jacq.) M.E.Endress & B.F.Hansen # ''Parsonsia diversifolia'' (Warb.) Markgr. = '' Lyonsia diversifolia'' Warb. # ''Parsonsia floribunda'' (Sw.) R.Br. ex Steud. = ''

Pinochia floribunda ''Pinochia'' is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 2007. It is native to Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic ...

'' (Sw.) M.E.Endress & B.F.Hansen # ''Parsonsia francii'' Guillaumin = '' Artia francii'' (Guillaumin) Pichon # ''Parsonsia galeottiana'' Baill. = '' Thenardia galeottiana'' Baill. # ''Parsonsia javanica'' Blume 1826 not (Blume) K. Schum 1895 = ''

Urceola javanica ''Urceola'' may refer to: * ''Urceola'' (fungus), Quél. 1886, a genus of fungi in the order Helotiales * ''Urceola'' (plant), Roxb. 1799, a genus of plants in the family Apocynoideae See also * Urceolate This glossary of botanical te ...

'' (Blume) Boerl. # ''Parsonsia leptocarpa'' Hook. & Arn. = ''

Forsteronia leptocarpa ''Forsteronia'' is a genus of plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1818. It is native to South America, Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies. ;Species Formerly included in ''Forsteronia'' but transferred to '' ...

'' (Hook. & Arn.) A.DC. # ''Parsonsia lifuana'' Baill. = ''Artia lifuana'' (Baill.) Pichon ex Guillaumin # ''Parsonsia myrtifolia'' (Poir.) Roem. & Schult. = '' Landolphia myrtifolia'' (Poir.) Markgr. # ''Parsonsia ovata'' Wall. ex G.Don = '' Pottsia laxiflora'' (Blume) Kuntze # ''Parsonsia spicata'' (Jacq.) R.Br. ex Steud. = '' Forsteronia spicata'' (Jacq.) G.Mey.

Cultivation

A species from New Zealand, ''Parsonsia variablis'' (Variable-leaved Parsonsia), was introduced into cultivation in England in 1847 as a greenhouse plant and was noted to have a sweet scent, however the flowers were regarded as "not very showy". This species is thought to be a form of ''Parsonsia heterophylla''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5219581 Apocynaceae genera