''Vangueria'' 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 family

Rubiaceae Rubiaceae () is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with Petiole ( ...

. The genus is named for , as '' V. madagascariensis'' is known in Malagasy.

Distribution

The genus contains over 50 species distributed in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

south of the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

with one species occurring in

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 ...

('' V. madagascariensis''). The centre of diversity is in East Africa (

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

) and they are rare in West Africa.

Bacterial leaf symbiosis

Endophytic bacteria are housed in the intercellular space of the leaf

mesophyll tissue A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

. The presence of these bacteria can only be microscopically ascertained. The bacteria are identified as ''

Burkholderia ''Burkholderia'' is a genus of Pseudomonadota whose pathogenic members include the ''Burkholderia cepacia'' complex, which attacks humans and plants; ''Burkholderia mallei'', responsible for glanders, a disease that occurs mostly in horses and r ...

'', which is a genus that is also found in the leaves of other Rubiaceae species. The hypothesis is that these endophytic bacteria provide chemical protection against insect herbivory.

Gousiekte

Several ''Vangueria'' species - '' V. latifolia'', '' V. pygmaea'', '' V. thamnus'' - are known to cause , a cardiotoxicosis of ruminants characterised by heart failure four to eight weeks after ingestion of certain rubiaceous plants.

Taxonomy

The genus was firist described by

Antoine Laurent de Jussieu Antoine Laurent de Jussieu (; 12 April 1748 – 17 September 1836) was a French botanist, notable as the first to publish a natural classification of flowering plants; much of his system remains in use today. His classification was based on an e ...

in 1789.''Vangueria'' Juss.
''

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 ...

''. Retrieved 10 December 2023. Species in the former genus ''Tapiphyllum'' were sunk into synonymy ''Vangueria'' when a 2005

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Field of study * Observational study * Scientific study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study ...

showed that the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

, ''Tapiphyllum cinerascens'', is more closely related to ''Vangueria'' than to ''Tapiphyllum obtusifolium'' and ''Tapiphyllum velutinum'', and that the latter two were not distinct from ''Vangueria''.

Species

* '' Vangueria agrestis'' (

Schweinf. Georg August Schweinfurth (29 December 1836 – 19 September 1925) was a Baltic Germans, Baltic German botanist and ethnologist who explored East Central Africa. Life and explorations He was born at Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Emp ...

ex Hiern.) Lantz * '' Vangueria albosetulosa'' (Verdc.) Lantz * '' Vangueria apiculata'' K.Schum. * '' Vangueria bicolor'' K.Schum. * '' Vangueria bowkeri'' ( Robyns) Lantz * '' Vangueria burnettii'' (Tennant) Lantz * '' Vangueria burttii'' (Verdc.) Lantz * '' Vangueria chariensis''

A.Chev. Auguste Jean Baptiste Chevalier (June 1873, in Domfront – June 1956, in Paris) was a French botanist, taxonomist, and explorer of tropical Africa, especially of French colonial empire in Africa that included Côte d'Ivoire. He also explored an ...

J.F.Gmel. Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German natural history, naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist. Education Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp F ...

* '' Vangueria micropyren'' (Verdc.) Lantz * '' Vangueria mollis'' ( Robyns) Lantz * '' Vangueria monteiroi'' ( Oliv.) Lantz * '' Vangueria obtusifolia'' K.Schum. * '' Vangueria pachyantha'' ( Robyns) Lantz * '' Vangueria pallidiflora'' (Bullock) Lantz * ''

Vangueria parvifolia ''Vangueria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is named for , as ''Vangueria madagascariensis, V. madagascariensis'' is known in Malagasy language, Malagasy. Distribution The genus contains over 50 species distri ...

'' Sond. * '' Vangueria praecox'' Verdc. * '' Vangueria proschii''

Briq A Briq, Ibrik or Brik () is an Ancient history, ancient teapot and pitcher traditionally used by the inhabitants of Lebanon and Syria to prepare and drink tea or water. It is a pot and handle with an unconventional spout that allows liquid to be co ...

* ''

Vangueria psammophila ''Vangueria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is named for , as ''Vangueria madagascariensis, V. madagascariensis'' is known in Malagasy language, Malagasy. Distribution The genus contains over 50 species distri ...

'' ( K.Schum.) Lantz * ''

Vangueria pygmaea ''Vangueria pygmaea'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. Description It is a small (5–15 cm) geofrutex, usually with a long rhizome. Because of these rhizomes, the species often reproduces clonally with as a consequ ...

'' Schltr. * '' Vangueria quarrei'' ( Robyns) Lantz * '' Vangueria randii'' S.Moore * '' Vangueria rhodesiaca'' (Tennant) Lantz * '' Vangueria rufescens'' (E.A.Bruce) Lantz * '' Vangueria schliebenii'' (Verdc.) Lantz * '' Vangueria schumanniana'' ( Robyns) Lantz * '' Vangueria senegalensis''

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

& Hook.f. ex Hiern * '' Vangueria silvicola'' O.Lachenaud * '' Vangueria solitariiflora'' (Verdc.) Lantz * '' Vangueria soutpansbergensis'' N.Hahn * ''

Vangueria thamnus ''Vangueria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus is named for , as '' V. madagascariensis'' is known in Malagasy. Distribution The genus contains over 50 species distributed in Africa south of the Sahara with one ...

'' ( Robyns) Lantz * '' Vangueria triflora'' ( Robyns) Lantz * '' Vangueria venosa'' ( Hochst.) Sond. * '' Vangueria verticillata'' ( Robyns) Lantz * '' Vangueria vestita'' ( Robyns) ined. * '' Vangueria volkensii'' K.Schum.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2473658 Rubiaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot