PlantaeDB Logo
Login Sign-up

Genus Tripterygium in Family Celastraceae

In botanical taxonomy, a genus (plural genera) is a rank used to group closely related species within a family. In the hierarchy, genus sits below family and above species.

Genera are defined by shared morphological, anatomical, and genetic characteristics (for example, features of flowers, fruits, seeds, or leaves) that indicate a close evolutionary relationship among the species they contain.

Each genus can include one or more species. Examples include Rosa (roses) and Solanum (nightshades, including tomato and eggplant).

Do you wish to read more about plant taxonomy? Click here!

Genus Description

Suggest a correction!

Tripterygium (Celastraceae) is a small East Asian genus of woody lianas and scandent shrubs that collectively span roughly three species across temperate to subtropical China, Japan, and Korea. T. wilfordii Hook.f. serves as the type.Plants are glabrous to sparsely hairy, with axillary bud-scales; leaves are alternate, simple to occasionally trifoliolate, membranaceous to coriaceous, estipulate, and often with serrate margins. Inflorescences are large, terminal thyrses with dichasial cymes; flowers are pentamerous, functionally unisexual or occasionally perfect, with five sepals, five petals, a prominent nectariferous disk, and a superior to semi-inferior ovary with axile placentation. The fruit is a three-winged schizocarp (samara), about 1–2 cm wide, with a broadly winged nutlet that disperses by wind. Centers of diversity lie in East Asia, with regional endemism; species occur in mixed and secondary forests, thickets, margins, and scrub at low to mid elevations, showing disjunct Sino-Japanese distributions typical of many Celastraceae. Pollination is largely entomophilous, and wind dispersal via the samaras is well established; nothing substantial has been documented about chromosome numbers.Phylogenetic placements in Celastraceae are comparatively stable, with Tripterygium nested in the “Tripterygium clade” alongside genera such as Microtropis, though interfamily relationships among celastroid lineages remain contentious. Infragenusically, most floras have not used formal subgeneric divisions; recent treatments accept three species (T. hypoleucum, T. regelii, and T. wilfordii) with ongoing taxonomic work on circumscription and status of regional taxa.GBIF (2024) catalogues extant specimens and maps current distributions, while the WFO Plant List (2024) currently lists a narrower set of accepted species than some national treatments. APG IV–IVB (2016; 2019) support family placement within Celastraceae. Although T. wilfordii is widely cultivated botanically and historically in horticulture and genetics, the genus has little timber value and no recognized timber significance; it does not appear as a major invasive outside its native range. Most conservation concerns are localized and species-specific, but no global threat assessments are currently robust; significant knowledge gaps persist around comparative ecology and accurate species delimitation across regional floras. POWO (2024).

Pick a Species to see its components: