PlantaeDB Logo
Login Sign-up

Genus Colona in Family Malvaceae

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!

Colona is a tropical tree genus in Malvaceae subfamily Brownlowioideae, with an estimated 34–40 species extending from the Andaman Islands and mainland Southeast Asia through Malesia to the Solomon Islands and Fiji (WFO, 2024; POWO, 2024). The type species of the genus is C. javanica (Blume) Kostel. (APG IV, 2016). Members are mostly small to medium forest trees with persistent or partially deciduous crowns. Vegetatively they are characterized by branched or dendritic stellate hairs, entire to shallowly toothed chartaceous leaves that are often ovate to elliptic with a shortly acuminate apex, and caducous stipules. Panicles or thyrses bearing numerous small pentamerous yellowish to cream flowers are typical; the calyx is often densely stellate, the five petals are free to slightly coherent, and the stamens form a tube around a superior ovary that is usually five- to seven-carpellate with axile placentation; each locule typically contains a single pendent ovule. Fruits are woody schizocarps separating into one‑seeded mericarps, a diagnostic syndrome for the subfamily (Wilkie et al., 2006; Baum & Horn, 2001).

Centers of diversity lie in Malesia, especially Borneo and the Philippines, where many narrow endemics occur. Species occupy lowland to lower montane forest, kerangas, and frequently limestone karsts and riverine corridors; a few extend to coastal mangal margins. The group shows classic Malesian biogeographic structuring with multiple localized radiations. In areas with heavy rainfall and nutrient‑poor soils, many Colona species show adaptation to wet, sometimes temporarily waterlogged habitats (Wilkie et al., 2006).

The genus is wind‑pollinated (anemophily) in common with most Brownlowioideae; floral features (reduced perianth, exerted anthers) support this inference. Fruits are wind‑dispersed; the hardened mericarps are capable of long glides. Chromosome numbers are not consistently reported for Colona; reliable counts are currently sparse.

Colona is treated here as distinct from Brownlowia. While some authors have proposed merging Brownlowioideae into Tiliaceae (notably Smith et al., 2004), subsequent consensus affirms Brownlowioideae within Malvaceae (APG IV, 2016) and Colona as a separate genus. Major sectional or subgeneric groupings are in flux and require modern revisions (WFO, 2024). The genus is not widely cultivated, though certain species are used locally for shade trees and light timber; a few taxa appear as pioneering elements in secondary vegetation and occasionally become weedy.

Conservation assessments remain incomplete for most species; several limestone endemics are likely threatened by habitat loss, underscoring the need for targeted field surveys and IUCN Red List evaluations (POWO, 2024).

Pick a Species to see its components: