''Platea'', known as 肖榄属 (xiao lan shu) in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, is a genus in the

Metteniusaceae Metteniusaceae are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the order Metteniusales. It consists of about 10 genera and 50 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas, primarily of the tropics. The family was formerly restricted to just '' Mette ...

found in

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 ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

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 ...

. It is a small genus of mostly

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s that grow in high-elevation forests.

Description

''Platea'' is a genus of predominantly dioecious trees with spirally arranged leathery leaves. Plants may grow up to 45 meters tall. The young shoots and branches are covered with stellate (star-shaped)

trichome Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

s or simple hairs. The

staminate The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

(male)

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are arranged in panicles and the

pistillate Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ...

(female) flowers in racemes. The flowers are pentamerous (floral parts arranged in five), with female flowers lacking

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s. The stigma is

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

and disc-shaped, and the

ovaries The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are endocr ...

are cylindrical. The

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 ...

s are cylindrical

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

s that are blue-black when ripe with a woody

endocarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

Taxonomy and naming

''Platea'' was once placed in the

Icacinaceae The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family (biology), family of flowering plants,"Icacinaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website (see ''External links'' below). consisting of trees, shrub ...

. After the Icacinaceae were split into four smaller families, ''Platea'' was transferred to the Metteniusaceae. As of February 2023, it consists of 8 accepted species: * '' Platea bullata''

Sleumer Hermann Otto Sleumer (February 21, 1906 in Saarbrücken – October 1, 1993 in Oegstgeest) was a Dutch botanist of Germany, German birth. The plant genera ''Sleumerodendron'' Robert Virot, Virot (Proteaceae) and ''Sleumeria'' Timothy Michael Arthur ...

* '' Platea excelsa'' Blume * '' Platea hongiaoensis'' Tagane * '' Platea kachinensis'' Y.H.Tan & H.B.Ding * '' Platea latifolia'' Blume * '' Platea malayana'' Utteridge * '' Platea parvifolia''

Merr. Elmer Drew Merrill (October 15, 1876 – February 25, 1956) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through ...

& Chun * '' Platea sclerophylla'' Sleumer

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q16855010 Metteniusaceae Asterid genera