PlantaeDB Logo
Login Sign-up

Genus Licania in Family Chrysobalanaceae

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!

Licania (Aubl.) is a large Neotropical genus in Chrysobalanaceae. About 180 species are recognized (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024), with the type usually treated as Licania heterophylla* (Aubl.) Prance (POWO, 2024; Stevens, 2001–). Species range from Mexico and the Caribbean across northern South America to southern Brazil and Paraguay, with centers of diversity in Amazonia and the Guiana Shield (Prance, 1972; BFG, 2023). The genus includes trees and shrubs of lowland rain forests, savannas, and coastal restingas, occurring from near sea level to about 1500 m (Prance, 1972; Sothers et al., 2016).

Licania is distinguished by woody habit, alternate simple leaves with entire margins and often persistent axillary colleters, and completely intrastaminal disk with a conspicuous glandular ring surrounding the ovary (Prance, 1972; Stevens, 2001–). Inflorescences are typically terminal or axillary thyrses or panicles; flowers are small, often sessile, with five sepals and five reflexed petals, and a free or partially fused ovary that is inserted on the hypanthium floor; ovules are solitary and pendulous. The fruit is a drupe with a single seed. The base chromosome number is n=11 (Goldblatt, 1976; Prance, 1972).

Diversity and distribution are strongest in Amazonian terra firme and white-sand forests, and the genus contributes several regional endemics; Licania is also characteristic of coastal and savanna habitats (Sothers et al., 2016; BFG, 2023). Birds and mammals are principal dispersers, and flowering occurs throughout the year depending on region and species (Prance, 1972; Bardon et al., 2016).

Historically, Prance (1972) circumscribed several sections—Eulicania, Leptobalanus, Licania, and Microsepalum—based on indumentum, leaf nervation, and fruit morphology. Molecular work (Bardon et al., 2016; Sothers et al., 2016) has shown that sectional concepts require adjustment, with Leptobalanus resolved outside a core Licania clade and Licania s.s. nested within the remainder. These studies support merging formerly recognized genera such as Moquilea into Licania (Sothers et al., 2016; BFG, 2023). Coueparia and Thely cogne are often accepted as separate (Sothers et al., 2016), though limits remain weakly supported; future revisions are likely (Bardon et al., 2016).

Several species provide timber and ornamentals (Prance, 1972). Licania is not a major crop genus, and naturalized introductions are few. Habitat loss in Amazonia and the Atlantic forest poses conservation concerns, and improved phylogenomic resolution and updated regional treatments are research priorities for delimiting species and managing targeted threats (Sothers et al., 2016; BFG, 2023).

Pick a Species to see its components: