''Smithia'' is a genus of

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

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

family,

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. It includes 20 species of herbs or subshrubs native to sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, southern China, Japan,

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...

, and northern Australia. The greatest diversity of species is in the Indian subcontinent, with 11 endemic species. Six more are widespread in southern and eastern Asia, and two of these, '' S. conferta'' and '' S. sensitiva'', range further to northern Australia. Two species are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. '' S. elliotii'' is native to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

as well as mainland Africa, and ''S. conferta'' is also native to Madagascar. Typical habitats include seasonally-dry tropical grassland, wetlands, and streamsides. The genus belongs to the subfamily

Faboideae The Faboideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. An acceptable alternative name for the subfamily is Papilionoideae, or Papilionaceae when this group of plants is treated as a family. This subfamily is widely ...

, and was recently assigned to the informal

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

''Dalbergia'' clade of the

Dalbergieae The tribe Dalbergieae is an early-branching clade within the flowering plant subfamily Faboideae (or Papilionaceae). Within that subfamily, it belongs to an unranked clade called the dalbergioids. It was recently revised to include many genera ...

Species

''Smithia'' comprises the following species: * '' Smithia abyssinica'' (A. Rich.) Verdc. * '' Smithia bigemina'' Dalzell * '' Smithia blanda'' Wall. * '' Smithia capitata'' Dalzell * '' Smithia ciliata'' Royle * '' Smithia conferta'' Sm. * '' Smithia elliotii'' Baker f. * '' Smithia erubescens'' (E.Mey.) Baker f. * '' Smithia finetii'' Gagnep. * '' Smithia gracilis'' Benth. * '' Smithia grandis'' Baker * '' Smithia hirsuta'' Dalzell * '' Smithia oligantha'' Blatt. * '' Smithia purpurea'' Hook. * '' Smithia pycnantha'' Benth. ex Baker f. * '' Smithia salsuginea'' Hance * '' Smithia sensitiva'' Aiton * '' Smithia setulosa'' Dalzell * '' Smithia venkobarowii'' Gamble * '' Smithia yehii''

References

* * Dalbergieae Fabaceae genera Taxa named by William Aiton {{Dalbergieae-stub