PlantaeDB Logo
Login Sign-up

Genus Anaxagorea in Subfamily Anaxagoreoideae

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!

Anaxagorea (A.St.-Hil. & A.St.-Hil.) is a genus of Annonaceae comprising about eighty species of small trees and shrubs distributed from southern Mexico through Central America and across northern South America to the Guianas and Amazonia, with several species in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. The type species is Anaxagorea acuminata (A.St.-Hil. & A.St.-Hil.) (P. Maas et al., 2007). The plants are characterized by alternate leaves that commonly possess peltate scales on their undersides, cymose or axillary inflorescences bearing actinomorphic flowers with two larger persistent outer petals that are concave and often fleshy, and numerous narrow inner petals. The many-carpellate gynoecium is usually stipitate, with one or two ovules per carpel and basal or basal–axile placentation; the fruit consists of monocarps each bearing one or two large, laterally compressed seeds with a conspicuous strophiole (Chatrou et al., 2012; P. Maas et al., 2007).

Diversity is concentrated in the Guiana Shield and western Amazon basin, where numerous locally endemic species occur in lowland evergreen rainforest, typically below 800 meters. Biogeographically, the genus shows a predominantly neotropical distribution with concentration in terra firme forests, and several species are associated with flooded or periodically waterlogged habitats in Amazonian várzea and igapó (P. Maas et al., 2007). Two species extend into eastern Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, and a few species are documented in Central America (Chatrou et al., 2012).

Intrinsic biology is documented only partially. Pollination appears to involve small beetles and flies attracted by the floral scent and the nutritious strophioles, whereas seed dispersal is frequently by birds that consume the fleshy monocarps (Chatrou et al., 2012). Base chromosome number is not firmly established in recent reviews.

Within Annonaceae, Anaxagorea is treated within tribe Annoneae and placed in subfam. Annonoideae, often resolved as a lineage close to Monodora and Asteranthe in molecular phylogenetic analyses (Chatrou et al., 2012; Guo et al., 2017; Couvreur et al., 2011). In contrast to some historical arrangements that segregated species into additional genera or sections, modern treatments accept a broad circumscription of Anaxagorea as monophyletic (Chatrou et al., 2012; Erkens et al., 2007). Subgeneric or sectional groups are not consistently recognized across recent treatments (Erkens et al., 2007).

Humans: Anaxagorea is not a major crop or timber source, but its fruits are locally utilized and some species are collected from the wild for ornamental planting in humid tropical gardens (Chatrou et al., 2012; Kew Science, 2024). No species are prominent weeds.

Conservation and outlook: habitat loss across Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest remains the principal threat, and taxonomy remains incompletely resolved for many species, which complicates conservation assessment (POWO, 2024; Kew Science, 2024). Continued field inventories and integrative phylogenetics will be essential to refine species limits and status.

Pick a Species to see its components: