Global InformationOlmediella information
| Olmediella | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Salicaceae |
| Subfamily: | Salicoideae |
| Tribe: | Saliceae |
| Genus: | Olmediella Baill. |
| Species: | O. betschleriana
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| Binomial name | |
| Olmediella betschleriana (Göpp.) Loes.
| |
Olmediella is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae. It consists of one species of trees: Olmediella betschleriana, which is native to Central America. Formerly placed in the heterogeneous family Flacourtiaceae,[1] Olmediella is now classified in Salicaceae,[2] along with close relatives Bennettiodendron, Carrierea, Idesia, Itoa, Macrohasseltia, Poliothyrsis, and even the willows (Salix) and cottonwoods (Populus) themselves.[3]
Olmediella has a number of features that point to its close relationship to the willows (Salix), including flowers subtended by prominent bracts, flowers with a highly reduced calyx, and nectaries located next to each stamen or pistil. Its sometimes spiny-margined leaves, though, are unlike those of any Salix, and some early botanists even included the species in the genus Ilex.[3]
- ^ Sleumer, H.O. 1980. Flacourtiaceae. Flora Neotropica 22: 1-499.
- ^ Chase, Mark W.; Zmarzty, S.; Lledó, M.D.; Wurdack, K.J.; Swensen, S.M.; Fay, M.F. (2002). "When in doubt, put it in Flacourtiaceae: a molecular phylogenetic analysis based on plastid rbcL DNA sequences". Kew Bulletin. 57 (1): 141–181. doi:10.2307/4110825. JSTOR 4110825.
- ^ a b Alford, M.H. 2005. Systematic Studies in Flacourtiaceae. Dissertation, Cornell University.