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Genus Telosma in Tribe Marsdenieae

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).

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Genus Description

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Telosma Coville (1909) is a small genus of twining vines in the family Apocynaceae, subfamily Asclepiadoideae, tribe Marsdenieae (APG IV 2016). About twelve species are currently accepted (POWO 2024). The genus is distributed across tropical Asia, from Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent through mainland Southeast Asia to Malesia, New Guinea, and the western Pacific islands. The centre of diversity lies in Borneo and the Philippines (POWO 2024).

Vegetatively Telosma bears opposite, simple leaves without stipules and exudes milky latex when damaged. Inflorescences are axillary, usually dichasial cymes that may appear compact; the small, five‑parted flowers have a rotate corolla that is white to pale yellow and a conspicuous five‑lobed corona. The gynostegium follows the milk‑weed syndrome: anthers fuse into a central column bearing pollinia that attach to a translator on visiting insects. The ovary is bicarpellary and apocarpous, each carpel containing many ovules, and the fruit is a pair of follicles that dehisce along one side, releasing coma‑bearing seeds for wind dispersal (Livshultz 2003).

Species are typical of lowland rain forest and secondary growth, occurring from sea level to about 800 m. Many taxa are concentrated in Borneo and the Philippines (POWO 2024).

Flowers are visited by small flies or butterflies that pick up pollinia on their legs; the pollinia are deposited on the stigmas of subsequent flowers (Kårehed et al. 2018). Seeds are wind‑dispersed by a silky coma.

Molecular phylogenies place Telosma within the Marsdenieae clade of Asclepiadoideae (Livshultz 2003; Kårehed et al. 2018). The genus is generally treated as distinct, though some authors synonymise it with Hoya (Smith et al. 2022). Current checklists retain Telosma as separate, with Telosma congesta (Korth.) Coville designated as the type species (POWO 2024).

Only a few Telosma species are cultivated, most notably Telosma cordata, grown for its glossy foliage and fragrant flowers and occasionally offered in horticultural trade. No species are harvested for timber, food, or as major weeds.

Conservation status is largely data‑deficient, but habitat loss in some island and mainland areas may threaten narrowly endemic taxa (POWO 2024). Continued field surveys and genetic studies are needed to assess threats and guide any future conservation actions.

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