Altingia

Altingia
Altingia gracilipes
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Altingiaceae
Genus: Altingia
Noronha
Species

See text.

Altingia yunnanensis

Altingia is a genus of 11 species of flowering plants in the family Altingiaceae, formerly often treated in the related family Hamamelidaceae. [1] The genus is native to southeastern Asia, in Bhutan, Cambodia, southern China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is named in honor of Willem Arnold Alting (1724–1800), the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies when Noronha visited Java.[2]

They are evergreen trees growing to 10-50 m tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple unlobed, 4-15 cm long and 2-7 cm broad, with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced in a dense globose inflorescence, similar to those of the related genus Liquidambar.

Some recent genetic evidence suggests Altingia should be merged into a broader circumscription of Liquidambar, but other evidence maintains their separation.[3][4][5]

Selected species

The leaves are used as food by the larvae of some Lepidoptera, including Endoclita damor.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Altingia.
  1. ↑ Zhang Zhiyun, Zhang Hongda (Chang Hung-ta), and Peter K. Endress. 2003. "Altingia". pages 19-21. In: Wu Zhengyi, Peter H. Raven, and Hong, Deyuan (editors). Flora of China volume 9. Science Press: Beijing, China; Missouri Botanical Garden Press: St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
  2. ↑ Hayne F. G. 1830: Getreue Darstellung und Beschreibung der in der Arzneykunde gebräuchlichen Gewächse. Vol. 11. Berlin. - Online
  3. ↑ Stephanie M. Ickert-Bond and Jun Wen (2006), "Phylogeny and biogeography of Altingiaceae: Evidence from combined analysis of five non-coding chloroplast regions", Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39 (2): 512–528, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.12.003, PMID 16439163
  4. ↑ Stefanie M. Ickert-Bond, Kathleen B. Pigg and Jun Wen (2005), "Comparative infructescence morphology in Liquidambar (Altingiaceae) and its evolutionary significance", American Journal of Botany 92 (8): 1234–1255, doi:10.3732/ajb.92.8.1234, PMID 21646145.
  5. ↑ Stephanie M. Ickert-Bond, Kathleen B. Pigg, and Jun Wen (2007), "Comparative infructescence morphology in Altingia (Altingiaceae) and discordance between morphological and molecular phylogenies", American Journal of Botany 94 (7): 1094–1115, doi:10.3732/ajb.94.7.1094
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, September 17, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.