Meryta

Meryta
Meryta denhamii
Systematics
Asterids Euasterids II Order : Umbelliferae (Apiales) Family : Araliaceae (Araliaceae) Subfamily : Aralioideae Genre : Meryta
Scientific name
Meryta
JR Forest. & G.Forst.

Meryta is a genus within the family of the Araliaceae (Araliaceae). The approximately 29 to 37 species occur on someislandsin the western and southern Pacific .

description

Deciduous leaves and inflorescences of Meryta coriacea

Vegetative characteristics

The Meryta species grow as shrubs or trees . The trunks are usually thick and succulent .

The leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The petioles are short. The simple leaf blades are mostly entire.

Inflorescences and flowers

The Meryta species are dioecious ( dioecious ) or perhaps seldom single-sexed separately ( monoecious ). In the racemose or paniculate inflorescences , sessile flowers are close together in several head-shaped partial inflorescences or individually above a bract .

The unisexual flowers are four or five-fold; it could also be that they are rarely up to nine digits. The female flowers are larger than the male. The sepals are fused and the calyx ends clearly or indistinctly in three to five calyx teeth. The four or five, perhaps rarely up to nine petals do not overlap and remain for a relatively long time. The mostly four or five, maybe rarely only three or up to nine stamens are missing in the female flowers or are sterile there . The stamens are thread-shaped and the anthers are ovate-elongated. Five to twelve fruit leaves are a five- to zwölfkammerigen ovary grown. In the male flowers there is only a rudimentary ovary or it is completely absent. The five to twelve free stylus is usually bent back.

Fruits and seeds

The egg-shaped to spherical or flattened drupes can be laterally fused together. The style remains on the fruit for a long time. The exocarp is fleshy. The stone core is flattened.

Systematics and distribution

Infructescence of Meryta latifolia

Meryta pastoralis fruits

Habit of Meryta sinclairii

Illustration by Meryta sinclairii

The genus Meryta was established in 1775 by Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster in Generum Plantarum: quas in itinere ad insulas maris Australis, collegerunt, descripserunt, delinearunt, annis 1772-1775 . Synonyms for Meryta J.R. Forst. & G.Forst. are: Botryodendrum Endl. , Botryomeryta J.R. Forst & G. Forst . , Neara Sol. ex Seem. , Schizomeryta R.Vig. and Strobilopanax R.Vig.

The genus Meryta belongs to the subfamily Aralioideae within the family of the Araliaceae .

The natural range of the Meryta species is on some islands in the western and southern Pacific . It stretches there from Palau , New Guinea , New Caledonia , Norfolk Island and New Zealand to the Marquesas Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago . New Caledonia is the main distribution center of the genus Meryta , as there is a great diversity of species.

Around 29 to 37 species are assigned to the genus Meryta , of which around ten species have not yet been described :

• Meryta angustifolia (Endl.) Seem. : This endemic occurs only on Norfolk Island . The number of chromosomes is 2n = 48.
• Meryta balansae Baill. : It occurs in New Caledonia.
• Meryta brachypoda Harms : It occurs on the Austral Islands and the Pitcairn Islands .
• Meryta capitata Christoph. : This endemic occurs only on Samoa .
• Meryta choristantha Harms : It occurs on the Austral Islands.
• Meryta coriacea Baill. : It occurs only in New Caledonia .
• Meryta denhamii Seem. : It occurs only in New Caledonia.
• Meryta drakeana Nadeaud : This endemic occurs only in Tahiti .
• Meryta lanceolata J.R. Forst. & G.Forst. : It occurs on Tahiti and on Bora Bora .
• Meryta latifolia (Endl.) Seem. : This endemic occurs only on Norfolk Island . The number of chromosomes is 2n = 48.
• Meryta lucida J.W. Moore : It occurs on the Society Islands .
• Meryta macrophylla (W.Rich ex A.Gray) Seem. : This endemic occurs only in Samoa.
• Meryta malietoa P.A.Cox : This endemic occurs only in Samoa.
• Meryta mauluulu P.A.Cox : This endemic occurs only in Samoa and Tonga .
• Meryta mauruensis Nadeaud : This endemic occurs only in Tahiti .
• Meryta neoebudica (Guillaumin) Harms : It occurs on the Santa Cruz Islands and Vanuatu .
• Meryta oxylaena Baill. : It occurs only in New Caledonia.
• Meryta pachycarpa Baill. : It occurs only in New Caledonia.
• Meryta pandanicarpa Guillaumin : It occurs only in New Caledonia.
• Meryta pastoralis F. Tronchet & Lowry : This endemic occurs only in the Marquesas .
• Meryta pauciflora Hemsl ex Cheeseman : This endemic occurs only on Rarotonga .
• Meryta raiateensis J.W.Moore : This endemic occurs only on Raiatea .
• Meryta rivularis Lowry : This endemic occurs only in northeastern New Caledonia.
• Meryta salicifolia J.W. Moore : This endemic occurs only in Tahiti .
• Meryta schizolaena Baill. : It occurs only in New Caledonia.
• Meryta senfftiana Volkens : It occurs on the Marianas and on the Carolines .
• Meryta sinclairii (Hook. F.) Seem. : It occurs in New Zealand on the Three Kings Islands and the Hen and Chicken Islands . The number of chromosomes is 2n = 48.
• Meryta sonchifolia (Linden) Linden & André : It only occurs in New Caledonia.
• Meryta tenuifolia A.C.Sm. : This endemic occurs only on Viti Levu .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Meryta. In: Flora of the Marquesas Islands. www.botany.si.edu/pacificislandbiodiversity/marquesasflora, accessed on December 25, 2016 (English).  
2. ↑ Meryta at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, accessed December 25, 2016.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae} Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Meryta. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved May 1, 2018.
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Meryta at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis

Web links

Commons : Meryta  - collection of images, videos and audio files