''Roupala'' is a
Neotropical genus of woody shrubs and trees in the plant family
Proteaceae
The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. Together with the Platanaceae and Nelumbonaceae, they make up the order Pro ...
. Its 34 species are generally found in forests from sea level to 4000 m altitude from Mexico to Argentina.
Taxonomy and naming
The genus was described by
Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet in 1775, its name derived from a local name ''roupale'' in French Guiana.
In their
1975 monograph on the Proteaceae,
Lawrie Johnson and
Barbara Briggs
Barbara Gillian Briggs (born 1934) is one of the foremost Australian botanists. The '' IK'' lists 205 names of plants which have been published or co-published by her. She was one of the botanists in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, of th1998APG ...
placed it in a subtribe Roupalinae alongside the New Caledonian genus ''
Kermadecia'' as the genera had similar floral parts and leaves. Both taxa also have 14 chromosome pairs.
In 2006, the family's classification was redefined using molecular data. Here, ''Roupala'' emerged as a sister to the genera ''
Orites'' and ''
Neorites'', with ''
Knightia'' as the next most closely related taxon, while ''Kermadecia'' was not related. They thus placed the first three genera in the subtribe ''Roupalinae'', conceding that the next closest relatives of this group is unclear. This group lies within the subfamily
Grevilleoideae.
The genus likely originated in
Gondwana
Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...
before South America split away around 110 million years ago, and then spread into Central America in the
Miocene around six million years ago when the Americas came into contact with each other. Clock dating with molecular and fossil data indicated ancestors of the genus may have split from ''Neorites'' in the mid-
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
around 30 million years ago, and that this lineage in turn separated from the ancestors of ''Orites'' in the late Eocene around 36 million years ago.
Species
Ten species are threatened, principally by habitat destruction. Four of these (''
R. barnettiae'', ''
R. percoriacea'', ''
R. thomesiana'' and ''
R. tobagensis'') are only known from a single collection of each species,
as is ''
Roupala gertii
''Roupala'' is a Neotropical genus of woody shrubs and trees in the plant family Proteaceae. Its 34 species are generally found in forests from sea level to 4000 m altitude from Mexico to Argentina.
Taxonomy and naming
The genus was described by ...
'', newly described in 2012.''
The genus includes the following species:
with a 34th species being described by
Prance in 2012.
* ''
Roupala barnettiae
''Roupala'' is a Neotropical genus of woody shrubs and trees in the plant family Proteaceae. Its 34 species are generally found in forests from sea level to 4000 m altitude from Mexico to Argentina.
Taxonomy and naming
The genus was described by ...
'', Dorr
* ''
Roupala brachybotrys
''Roupala brachybotrys'' is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, w ...
'', I.M. Johnst.
* ''
Roupala brasiliensis
''Roupala brasiliensis'' is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae
The Proteaceae form a family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genera with about 1,660 known species. T ...
'',
Klotzsch
Johann Friedrich Klotzsch (9 June 1805 – 5 November 1860) was a German pharmacist and botanist.
His principal work was in the field of mycology, with the study and description of many species of mushroom.
Klotzsch was born in Wittenberg. Origin ...
* ''
Roupala gertii
''Roupala'' is a Neotropical genus of woody shrubs and trees in the plant family Proteaceae. Its 34 species are generally found in forests from sea level to 4000 m altitude from Mexico to Argentina.
Taxonomy and naming
The genus was described by ...
''
* ''
Roupala loxensis
''Roupala loxensis'' is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which ...
'', I.M. Johnst.
* ''
Roupala montana
''Roupala montana'' is a species of shrub or tree in the family Proteaceae which is native to much of the Neotropics. It is a morphologically variable species with four recognised varieties. The species is used medicinally in Venezuela, and as ...
'', Aubl.
* ''
Roupala pinnata
''Roupala pinnata'' is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the S ...
'', (
Ruiz The Spanish surname Ruiz originates from the Germanic personal name " Hrodric" which is composed of the elements "Hrōd", meaning "renown", and "rīc", meaning "power(ful)", thus "famous ruler". Ruiz is a patronymic from the personal name Ruy, a sh ...
Lopez & Pavon) Diels
* ''
Roupala sphenophyllum
''Roupala sphenophyllum'' is a species of plant in the family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Peru.
References
Flora of Peru
sphenophyllum
''Sphenophyllum'' is a genus in the order Sphenophyllales
Sphenophyllales is an extinct order of ...
'',
Diels ex Skinner
Description
The species are woody shrubs or trees to 25 m (80 ft) high, often with hairy new growth. The leaves are compound or deeply lobed in younger plants, but are usually simple in mature plants.
The flowers occur in
raceme
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
s, known as
inflorescences, and are followed by
follicles containing one or two seeds.
Accord to Prance and colleagues ''Roupala'' species were "almost certainly" pollinated by insects, and have
wind- and
water-dispersed seeds (the latter being common in Amazonian forests subject to annual flooding).
Leaf morphology often changes over the lifespan of the plant in these species. Generally, juvenile plants have simple leaves, but these are replaced by compound leaves as the seedling age. These are usually replaced by simple leaves in mature adults, except in the case of ''
R. asplenioides'', the leaves of which are always compound. This pattern of leaf succession is seen as primitive in the Proteaceae.
Distribution and habitat

Found only in the neotropics, the members of the genus range from Mexico in the north, through central America and into Bolivia and Argentina in South America along the Andes, as well as the Amazon Basin in Brazil. They range from sea level to 4000 m in altitude, in rainforests, often near or along watercourses, and in cloud- or montane forests or scrub at higher altitudes. They are predominantly found on sandy soils.
The genus contains both widespread species and localised
endemics. ''Roupala montana'' occurs throughout the entire range of the genus, from Mexico in the north, throughout Central America, to Trinidad and across South America to southern Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina and Paraguay. Other species have more restricted distributions. Several have an
Andean distribution including ''
R. monosperma'' which ranges from Venezuela to Bolivia, ''
R. pachypoda'' found in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and ''
R. fiebrigii'' which is endemic to Bolivia. Other species are found in the western or northern Amazon basin and
Guiana Shield. ''
Roupala sororopana
''Roupala'' is a Neotropical genus of woody shrubs and trees in the plant family Proteaceae. Its 34 species are generally found in forests from sea level to 4000 m altitude from Mexico to Argentina.
Taxonomy and naming
The genus was described b ...
'' is only known from
tepuis in Venezuela and Suriname, while ''
R. minima'' is restricted to plateaux between tepuis in Venezuela. Several species, including ''
R. sculpta'' (known only from the São Paulo State Park Botanic Garden where it grows both wild and cultivated) and ''
R. consimilis'', are endemic to southern or southeastern Brazil. Central America supports three species in addition to the widespread ''R. montana'': ''
R. glaberrima'' which is found throughout Central America, ''
R. loranthoides'' which is endemic to
Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica, and ''R. percoriacea'', a Panamanian endemic. At the northern extremes of the range of the species, ''
R. mexicana'' is endemic to Mexico,
while ''R. tobagensis'' is
endemic to Tobago.
Uses
Members of the genus are used for fuel wood, high quality charcoal, medicinally and to a limited extent for woodworking and construction. ''
Roupala montana
''Roupala montana'' is a species of shrub or tree in the family Proteaceae which is native to much of the Neotropics. It is a morphologically variable species with four recognised varieties. The species is used medicinally in Venezuela, and as ...
'', ''
R. meisneri'', ''
R. suaveolans'', ''R. glaberrima'', ''R. monosperma'' and ''
R. pseudocordata'' are used for construction, woodworking, firewood and charcoal; ''R. montana'' and ''
R. cordifolia'' are also used medicinally.
In addition, ''R. montana'' is used as an
aphrodisiac in Trinidad and Tobago
and Venezuela.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7371301
Proteaceae genera
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Neotropical realm flora