Clethra
Clethra | |
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Clethra arborea flowers | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Ericales |
Family: | Clethraceae |
Genus: | Clethra L. |
Type species | |
Clethra alnifolia L.[1]
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Species | |
See text | |
Synonyms[2] | |
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Summersweet_Clethra_Clethra_alnifolia_%27Ruby_spice%27_Flower_2000px.jpg/220px-Summersweet_Clethra_Clethra_alnifolia_%27Ruby_spice%27_Flower_2000px.jpg)
Clethra is a genus of flowering shrubs or small trees described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753.[1][6]
Clethra is one of two genera in the family Clethraceae (the other being Purdiaea). The species may be evergreen or deciduous, and all bear flowers in clusters (inflorescences), which correspond to racemes or panicles. The flowers are quite small, white or pinkish, and each bear 5 free petals, numerous stamens, and a 3-chambered seed capsule. The leaves, simple, ovate, and alternate or opposite, bear characteristic stellate hairs. The seeds are very small and numerous.[7]
Distribution[]
Clethra species are native to a variety of habitats, including swamps, woodland, and rocky sites[8] from temperate to tropical climates in eastern and southeastern Asia, Malesia, North and South America, and one species (C. arborea) on the island of Madeira.[2]
Fossil record[]
Several fossil fruits and seeds of †Clethra cimbrica have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark.[9]
Species[]
The number of species accepted varies between different authorities depending on taxonomic interpretation, but with a recent trend to reduce the number recognised as distinct. The recent Flora of China (series)[10] has cut the number accepted for China from 35 to seven species, and the US Department of Agriculture[11] recognises only two in the United States, synonymising C. tomentosa with C. alnifolia. The following are accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families:[2]
- Clethra acuminata – mountain pepper bush; S Appalachians (Alabama to Pennsylvania)
- - Hidalgo, Jalisco
- - Jamaica
- Clethra alnifolia – sweet pepper bush; S + E United States (Texas to Maine)
- Clethra arborea – lily of the valley tree; Madeira, Canary islands†, Azores
- - New Guinea
- Clethra barbinervis – Japanese sweet shrub; SE China, Korea, Japan
- – S China
- - Philippines, E + C Indonesia, New Guinea
- var. clementis – Borneo
- - Peru
- - Chiapas
- - Panama, Costa Rica
- - Oaxaca
- – Ecuador
- - Cuba
- - Peru, Bolivia
- – SW China, Assam, Myanmar, Bhutan, Vietnam
- - Peru, Bolivia
- – S China, Vietnam
- - Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela
- – C China
- - Peru
- – Peru, Ecuador, Colombia
- - Costa Rica
- - Jalisco, Michoacán, Guerrero
- - Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas
- - Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras
- - Guyana, Venezuela
- - C + S Mexico
- - Peninsular Malaysia
- - Guerrero
- - Tabasco to Costa Rica
- - Java, Bali, Lombok, Timor
- – SE China
- - New Guinea
- – Guatemala, Honduras
- Clethra longispicata J.J.Sm. – Borneo, Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku
- - Oaxaca
- - Veracruz, Puebla
- – C + S Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad
- - Oaxaca
- – Ecuador, Peru
- - Jamaica
- - C + S Mexico, Central America
- – Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru
- - Chiapas to Honduras
- Clethra pachyphylla – Borneo
- - New Guinea
- – Ecuador
- - Chiapas
- - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
- - Ecuador, Peru
- – Vietnam, Yunnan
- - Laos
- - Mexican summersweet - Mexico
- - Palawan
- - Oaxaca, Chiapas
- - Panama, Costa Rica
- – Colombia, Venezuela
- - Peru
- – Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru
- - Mexico
- – Colombia, Ecuador
- Clethra scabra – Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, NW Argentina
- - Guatemala
- - Hunan
- - S Mexico, Central America
- - Sumatra
- - Lesser Sunda Islands
- - Perak
- - Costa Rica
- - Philippines
- - Panama
- - Veracruz
- - S Brazil
- - S Mexico, Central America
References[]
- ^ a b Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 1: 396 in Latin
- ^ a b c Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, retrieved 9 October 2016
- ^ Tropicos, search for Junia
- ^ Tropicos search for Volkameria
- ^ Tropicos search for Tinus
- ^ Tropicos, Clethra L.
- ^ Guía de Arboles de Bolivia by Killeen, T.J.; García E., E.; & Beck, S.G. (eds.). Bolivia: Herbario Nacional de Bolivia and Missouri Botanical Garden. 1993. p. 214.
- ^ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 1405332964.
- ^ Angiosperm Fruits and Seeds from the Middle Miocene of Jutland (Denmark) by Else Marie Friis, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters 24:3, 1985
- ^ Flora of China Vol. 14 Page 238 桤叶树属 qi ye shu shu Clethra Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 396. 1753.
- ^ US Department of Agriculture plants profile
External links[]
- Clethra
- Ericales genera
- Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus