Neocinnamomum

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

Neocinnamomum
Neocinnamomum delavayi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Neocinnamomum
H.Liu
Species

See text

Neocinnamomum (新樟属, xin zhang shu) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Lauraceae. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees, indigenous to Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia (Sumatra), Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. [1][2]

Neocinnamomum require a warm and wet climate with no extremes of heat and cold. They occupy mid to high elevations and montane laurel forests.[3]

Neocinnamomum leaves resemble those of true cinnamon (Cinnamomum) in possessing strongly three-veined blades, but they are arranged alternately rather than oppositely. The flowers are very small and bisexual.[2][4][5] The inflorescences are highly condensed, with poorly defined branching, their overall shape described as "glomerules".[4] Pollination is by insects.[6] The seeds are dispersed by birds, which eat the fruit which are berry-like drupes.[2] The red fruits of N. caudatum are eaten by humans.[7] The fruits are ellipsoid or globose (round). Some species also propagate vegetatively.[2]

Neocinnamomum mekongense is a species that grows in the mountains north of Dali, China. It is popular with butterflies, which possibly are attracted by secretions from extrafloral nectaries.[8]

It has been suggested that fossil flowers from the late Cretaceous of North America known as Neusenia tetrasporangi are a close match to Neocinnamomum,[9] and phylogenetic analysis from living plants might also indicate that Neocinnamomum is one of the earliest surviving lineages of the Lauraceae.[9]

Species.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Flora of China online database
  2. ^ a b c d Flora of China Neocinnamomum treatment (pdf)
  3. ^ Newsletter of the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden
  4. ^ a b Wang, Z.-h.; Li, J.; Conran, J.; Li, H.-w. (2010). "Phylogeny of the Southeast Asian endemic genus Neocinnamomum H. Liu (Lauraceae)". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 290 (1): 173–184. doi:10.1007/s00606-010-0359-1.
  5. ^ Caroline K. Allen (1939). "Studies in Cinnamomum and Neocinnamomum". Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. 20: 44–63.
  6. ^ Susan S. Renner (2004). "Variation in diversity among Laurales, Early Cretaceous to Present" (PDF). Biologiske Skrifter. 55: 441–458.
  7. ^ "Wild edible plants used by the Garo tribes of Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, Mechalaya, India" (PDF). Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge.
  8. ^ Zipcode Zoo
  9. ^ a b Andre S. Chanderbali; Henk van der Werff & Susanne S. Renner (2001). "Phylogeny and Historical Biogeography of Lauraceae: Evidence from the Chloroplast and Nuclear Genomes" (PDF). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 88 (1): 104–134. doi:10.2307/2666133.