''Prockia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of ...

s in the family

Salicaceae The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly ...

. It consists of approximately six

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of shrubs and small trees native to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Great ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. Its type species, ''Prockia crucis'', is highly polymorphic and has a broad distribution, from Mexico and the West Indies to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

. The genus name of ''Prockia'' is in honour of

Christian Leberecht von Prøck Christian Leberecht von Prøck (1718-1780) was a Danish baron. He served as Governor-General of the Danish West Indies colonies from 1756–1766. In 1768, Pröck became a diocese commander over Iceland and the Faroe Islands. He died on 4 Septem ...

(1718–1780), a Danish baron. He served as Governor-General of the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with ; Saint John ( da, St. Jan) with ; and Saint Croix with . The ...

colonies from 1756 to 1766. It was first described and published in

Syst. Nat. ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial ...

edition.10, Vol.2 on page 1074 in 1759. Historically, ''Prockia'' was characterized by having pseudo-axile

placentation Placentation refers to the formation, type and structure, or arrangement of the placenta. The function of placentation is to transfer nutrients, respiratory gases, and water from maternal tissue to a growing embryo, and in some instances to remov ...

(i.e., parietal placentae that intrude into the center of the

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the bod ...

and eventually fuse, appearing axile) and 3-merous flowers and lacking

nectaries Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutuali ...

.Sleumer, H.O. 1980. Flacourtiaceae. ''Flora Neotropica'' 22: 1-499. However, discoveries of new species have confounded a simple morphological diagnosis of the genus, as ''P. pentamera'' has 5-merous flowers, and ''P. oaxacana'' and ''P. krusei'' are polygamodioecious or androdioecious and have more typical parietal placentation. Formerly placed in the heterogeneous family

Flacourtiaceae The Flacourtiaceae is a defunct family of flowering plants whose former members have been scattered to various families, mostly to the Achariaceae and Salicaceae. It was so vaguely defined that hardly anything seemed out of place there and it bec ...

,Lemke, D.E. 1988. A synopsis of Flacourtiaceae. ''Aliso'' 12: 29-43. ''Prockia'' is now classified in tribe Prockieae of Salicaceae, along with close relatives ''

Banara ''Banara'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae (formerly in Flacourtiaceae). Species accepted by the Plants of the World Online as of October 2022: *'' Banara acunae'' *'' Banara arguta'' *'' Banara axilliflora'' *'' Ba ...

'', '' Hasseltiopsis'', '' Pineda'', and ''

Neosprucea ''Neosprucea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae. There are nine species native to Panama and northern South America.Alford, M.H. 2008Revision of ''Neosprucea ''(Salicaceae).''Systematic Botany Monographs'' 85: 1-62. Spec ...

''.Alford, M.H. 2008
Revision of ''Neosprucea'' (Salicaceae).
''Systematic Botany Monographs'' 85: 1-62. ''Prockia crucis'' is sometimes confused with ''Pineda ovata'' (Salicaceae) in the high elevations of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

.Alford, M.H. 2006. A taxonomic revision of the Andean genus ''Pineda'' (Salicaceae). ''Kew Bulletin'' 61: 205-214.

List of species

*'' Prockia costaricensis'' Standl. *'' Prockia crucis'' P.Browne ex L. *'' Prockia flava''

Karsten Karsten or Carsten is a both a given name and a surname. It is believed to be either derived from a Low German form of Christian, or "man from karst". Notable persons with the name include: Given name ;Carsten: * Carsten Charles Sabathia (born ...

*'' Prockia krusei'' J. Jiménez Ram. & Cruz Durán *'' Prockia oaxacana'' J. Jiménez Ram. & Cruz Durán *'' Prockia pentamera'' A.H.Gentry

References

Salicaceae Salicaceae genera Plants described in 1759 Flora of Mexico Flora of Central America Flora of the Leeward Islands Flora of northern South America Flora of western South America Flora of Brazil Flora of Northeast Argentina Flora of Northwest Argentina {{Salicaceae-stub