Mallotus (plant)
| Mallotus | |
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| Kamala Tree (M. philippensis)[1] | |
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| Genus: | Mallotus |
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Mallotus is a genus of the spurge family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1790.[3] Two species (M. oppositifolius and M. subulatus) are found in tropical Africa and Madagascar. All the other species are found in East, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, eastern Australia, and certain islands of the western Pacific.[2][4][5][6]
Fossil record
Mallotus macrofossils have been recovered from the late Zanclean stage of Pliocene sites in Pocapaglia, Italy.[7]
Uses
Mallotus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Endoclita malabaricus. The Kamala tree (Mallotus philippensis) has hairs of whose seed capsule which are the source of a yellow dye (kamala dye) and (formerly) herbal remedy.
Species[2]
Formerly included[2]
moved to other genera (Acalypha Aleurites Blumeodendron Chondrostylis Cleidion Croton Discocleidion Endospermum Hancea Lasiococca Macaranga Melanolepis Neoboutonia Plukenetia Ptychopyxis Rockinghamia Spathiostemon Sumbaviopsis )
References
- ^ 1897 illustration from Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen
- ^ a b c d Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ^ Loureiro, João de. 1790. Flora Cochinchinensis 601, 635
- ^ Flora of China Vol. 11 Page 225 野桐属 ye tong shu Mallotus Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 2: 635. 1790.
- ^ Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- ^ Sierra, S.E.C. & Van Welzen, P.C. (2005). A taxonomic revision of Mallotus section Mallotus (Euphorbiaceae) in Malesia. Blumea 50: 249-274.
- ^ Messian to Zanclean vegetation and climate of Northern and Central Italy by Adele Bertini & Edoardo Martinetto, Bollettino della Societa Paleontologica Italiana, 47 (2), 2008, 105-121. Modena, 11 lugio 2008.