''Strombosia'' is a
plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
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 about 10 species in the family
Olacaceae
Olacaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Santalales. They are woody plants, native throughout the tropical regions of the world. , the circumscription of the family varies; some sources maintain a broad family, others split it int ...
.
[ It has also been classified in the family Strombosiaceae.][ The generic name is from the ]Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
', meaning "pear-shaped", referring to the fruit.[
]
Description
''Strombosia'' species grow as shrubs or trees. The flowers are bisexual with 5 petals. The fruits are drupes
In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part ( exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a s ...
(pitted) with a thin, fleshy pericarp
Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits.
Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...
.[
]
Distribution and habitat
''Strombosia'' species are distributed mostly in tropical Africa, with others in tropical Asia. Their habitat is typically lowland forests.[
]
Species
, Plants of the World Online recognised 11 species:[
* ''Strombosia ceylanica''
* ''Strombosia fleuryana''
* ''Strombosia gossweileri''
* ''Strombosia grandifolia''
* ''Strombosia nana''
* ''Strombosia javanica''
* ''Strombosia nigropunctata''
* ''Strombosia philippinensis''
* ''Strombosia pustulata''
* ''Strombosia scheffleri''
* ''Strombosia zenkeri''
]
References
Olacaceae
Santalales genera
{{Santalales-stub