''Xanthophyllum'' is a genus of about 109 species of trees and shrubs, of the plant family

Polygalaceae The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ''ca''. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in on ...

; (under the

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a list of systems of plant taxonomy, taxonomic classification system of angiosperms, flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of ...

it was previously placed in the monotypic family Xanthophyllaceae). 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 "yellow leaf", referring to how the leaves are often yellow when dry. In

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

it is known as in Malay or in the

Iban language The Iban language () is spoken by the Iban, one of the Dayak ethnic groups who live in Brunei, the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan and in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It belongs to the Malayic subgroup, a Malayo-Polynesian branch ...

Description

''Xanthophyllum'' species grow as trees or shrubs. Their twigs are often smooth and are coloured green or yellow. Leaves, when not drying yellow, dry green or dark brown. Flowers feature five petals. The mostly roundish fruits are not winged and measure up to in diameter. Fruits of some species are considered edible, e.g. '' X. ecarinatum'', '' X. obscurum'' and '' X. stipitatum''.

Distribution and habitat

''Xanthophyllum'' grows naturally from India in tropical

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

to northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The majority of species grow in lowland rainforest. Some species grow at higher altitudes in hill or montane forests. Others occur in peatswamp or ''

kerangas The Sundaland heath forests, also known as ''Kerangas'' forest, is a type of tropical moist forest found on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as on the Indonesian islands of Belitung and Ban ...

'' forests.

Species

Xanthophyllum burkillii ''Xanthophyllum'' is a genus of about 109 species of trees and shrubs, of the plant family Polygalaceae; (under the Cronquist system it was previously placed in the monotypic family Xanthophyllaceae). The generic name is from the Greek language ...

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q784712 Fabales genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fabales of Asia