Shirakiopsis Elliptica

''Shirakiopsis'' 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 ...

of flowering plants in the family

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

first described as a genus in 1999.Tropicos, ''Shirakiopsis'' Esser
/ref> There are six known species, 3 native to tropical Asia and 3 to tropical Africa.''Shirakiopsis''.
Flora of Zimbabwe.''Shirakiopsis''.
Flora of China.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> These are trees and shrubs producing a milky

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 ...

. Their smaller branches are coated in pale-colored, yellowish, or sometimes reddish hairs. The toothed oblong to oval leaves are alternately arranged and there are small ovate to triangular

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s are thyrses at the branch tips. The plants are

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

; the inflorescence holds a few male flowers with usually one to three female flowers at the base. The male flower has three

stamen 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 ...

s. The female flower has 2 or 3 stigmas. There are no

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 fruit is smooth, dry, and woody or occasionally slightly fleshy, and contains 2 or 3 seeds in each of its chambers. ;Species # '' Shirakiopsis aubrevillei'' (Leandri) Esser in R.H.A.Govaerts, D.G.Frodin & A.Radcliffe-Smith - Ivory Coast, Ghana # '' Shirakiopsis elliptica'' (Hochst.) Esser in R.H.A.Govaerts, D.G.Frodin & A.Radcliffe-Smith - tropical + southern Africa from South Africa to Senegal and Ethiopia # ''

Shirakiopsis indica ''Shirakiopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1999. There are six known species, 3 native to tropical Asia and 3 to tropical Africa.Andaman & Nicobar The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines,

Papuasia Papuasia is a Level 2 botanical region defined in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD). It lies in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in the Melanesia ecoregion of Oceania and Tropical Asia. It comprises th ...

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the cen ...

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Shirakiopsis sanchezii ''Shirakiopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1999. There are six known species, 3 native to tropical Asia and 3 to tropical Africa.Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

Sumbawa Sumbawa, is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but th ...

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Shirakiopsis trilocularis ''Shirakiopsis trilocularis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It i ...

'' (Pax & K.Hoffm.) Esser - Tanzania # ''

Shirakiopsis virgata ''Shirakiopsis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1999. There are six known species, 3 native to tropical Asia and 3 to tropical Africa.Euphorbiaceae genera Hippomaneae