''Prockia'' 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 ...

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 in the family

Salicaceae The Salicaceae are the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') includes the willows, poplars. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly expanded the circumsc ...

. It consists of approximately six

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 shrubs and small trees native to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. 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, 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and northern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

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

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

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

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

colonies from 1756 to 1766. It was first described and published in Syst. Nat. edition.10, Vol.2 on page 1074 in 1759. Historically, ''Prockia'' was characterized by having pseudo-axile

placentation Placentation is the formation, type and structure, or modes of 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 re ...

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

ovary 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 end ...

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

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

.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 Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Bo ...

'', '' Hasseltiopsis'', '' Pineda'', and '' Neosprucea''.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 Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

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

Known species

The following species are accepted by

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

: *'' Prockia costaricensis'' *'' Prockia crucis'' *'' Prockia flava'' *'' Prockia jaliscana'' *'' Prockia krusei'' *'' Prockia oaxacana'' *'' Prockia pentamera''

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