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Genus Alseodaphne in Family Lauraceae

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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Alseodaphne (Lauraceae) comprises evergreen trees of tropical Asia, with about 100 accepted species widely distributed from Sri Lanka and the Himalaya to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippines, extending to New Guinea (POWO, 2024; van der Werff and Richter, 1996; Lee et al., 2022). The type species is Alseodaphne semecarpifolia (van der Werff and Richter, 1996). The genus is distinguished by the combination of domatia in the abaxial leaf axils, paniculate, often terminal inflorescences with numerous small yellow to greenish flowers, a cupular (faintly campanulate) perianth with equal or subequal tepals that persist at fruiting, six stamens with anthers that are typically quadrate in outline and often have two conspicuous thecae, a single basal ovule per ovary, and fruits that are ellipsoid to ovoid drupes subtended by a cup formed from the enlarged hypanthium and persistent tepals (van der Werff and Richter, 1996; Kostermans, 1983). The ovary is unilocular with the ovule inserted at the base, and seeds have thin endosperm (Kostermans, 1983).

Diversity and centers of richness occur in the Sunda Shelf and the southern Himalaya–Indochina interface, with numerous narrowly endemic taxa in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. Species typically inhabit lowland to lower montane evergreen forests, often on well-drained soils; some are common in hill forest up to about 1500 m (van der Werff and Richter, 1996). Flowers are small and lack conspicuous rewards, a syndrome associated with cantharophily, although detailed pollination records are scarce (van der Werff and Richter, 1996). Dispersal is likely by frugivorous birds and mammals attracted to the fleshy drupes, consistent with Lauraceae fruit syndromes. Chromosome counts are limited; n = 12 has been reported for a few species, suggesting a base number x = 12 for the family (Kumar, 1977), but counts for Alseodaphne remain sparse and should not be generalized without broader sampling.

Taxonomically, Alseodaphne is firmly nested in the Lauraceae and has been treated consistently since Nees, although delimitation toward Beilschmiedia remains unsettled (van der Werff and Richter, 1996). Modern phylogenies consistently resolve Alseodaphne within a large, well-supported Lauraceae clade that includes Beilschmiedia and related genera, but sampling density for Alseodaphne is modest in many analyses (Bayley et al., 2021; Rohde et al., 2017). Several sections (e.g., Alseodaphne sect. Cyrtostylis) have been proposed historically (Kostermans, 1983), yet sectional treatments are inconsistent across flora accounts, and broader genomic sampling is needed before a stable sectional classification can be endorsed (Lee et al., 2022).

Several species, notably Alseodaphne semecarpifolia and Alseodaphne hainanensis, are locally valued for durable timber and are cultivated in appropriate climates (Ng, 1972; van der Werff and Richter, 1996). No member is a major weed or recognized invasive. Many taxa are threatened by lowland deforestation and habitat fragmentation; IUCN assessments are uneven across the range, and a comprehensive revision with conservation assessments remains a priority (Lee et al., 2022).

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