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Genus Maquira in Family Moraceae

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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Maquira is a small Neotropical genus in Moraceae, with an estimated seven to nine accepted species and Maquira sclerophylla as type (Aubl.). It occurs in lowland rainforest of the Guiana Shield and Amazon basin, with centers of diversity in the Guianas, northern Brazil, and Venezuela. The genus was historically treated broadly and later restricted to a core group including M. calophylla, M. macrophylla, and M. sclerophylla, while many former members were transferred to Naucleopsis (Berg, 1972; 1973; Berg et al., 1990). Molecular work confirms Maquira as a well-supported, segregate lineage near Naucleopsis andOlmedia (Datwyler and Weiblen, 2004), and current checklists (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024) maintain this narrower circumscription.

Diagnostic morphology separates Maquira from related genera by habit—trees and shrubs—and by vegetative traits: leaves are large, leathery, entire, with prominent secondary veins that are sunken or impressed above and prominent below, and mature foliage is often glossy and glabrescent after an early indumentum; stipules are usually small and caducous. Inflorescences are unisexual, axillary and solitary or paired; female flowers are borne in a cupular to urceolate involucral structure that remains at the base of the mature infructescence, the perianth of individual flowers is reduced and the ovary has a 4-lobed, deeply sunken stigma. Fruits are drupes aggregated into fleshy syncarps, with stones (endocarps) typically four-lobed and strongly rugose. These characters, especially the lobed stigmas and endocarps, distinguish Maquira in field and herbarium treatments (Berg, 1973; Flora of the Guianas, 1999).

Diversity and range reflect the genus’s confinement to wet evergreen forests, from terra firme to riverine and swampy sites up to 600–800 m. Endemism is prominent in the Guianas and the northern Amazon, with species such as M. calophylla and M. macrophylla restricted to that region, whereas M. sclerophylla has a wider Amazonian distribution (Flora of the Guianas, 1999; GBIF, 2024). Maquira resembles its closest relatives ecologically by occurring in lowland floodplains and mature rainforests, but it is geographically distinct from co-occurring genera of Moraceae such as Ficus.

Intrinsic biology is known indirectly. The fleshy syncarps and hard lobed stones strongly suggest vertebrate dispersal, likely by bats and small mammals (Berg, 1973). Pollination remains inferred as typical of Moraceae, involving specialized tiny pollinators and potentially haplodiploid associations, but direct observations for Maquira are sparse (Datwyler and Weiblen, 2004). Chromosome numbers are not reported. Leaf anatomy and wood anatomy follow the family pattern; bark often yields a milky latex typical of Moraceae (Berg, 1973).

Taxonomy and phylogeny have been stabilized by modern checklists but retain historic complexity. Berg’s re-circumscriptions eliminated Olmedia as an independent genus and transferred many species to Naucleopsis, a treatment strongly supported by morphology and later by phylogeny (Berg, 1972; Datwyler and Weiblen, 2004). Continued molecular sampling continues to refine boundaries with Naucleopsis and related genera, and recent treatments synonymize some Amazonian taxa within Maquira (Berg and Dorr, 2018). Checklist consensus (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024) currently lists a compact species set, but ongoing revisions may alter local synonymies.

Human relevance is modest. Maquira is locally known as “olmedião” or “pau-pereira” in Brazil and is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental shade tree in botanical gardens and shady public spaces (Flora of the Guianas, 1999; Datwyler and Weiblen, 2004). The wood is used locally for light construction and tools where stands persist (Berg, 1973). No species are major crops, and none are documented as aggressive weeds.

Conservation and outlook remain underdocumented; most taxa lack formal red-list assessments. The principal threat is extensive deforestation and habitat fragmentation across Amazonia and the Guianas, with many occurrences in unprotected areas (GBIF, 2024). Field surveys and targeted phylogenomic sampling will be essential to stabilize species limits, document diversity hotspots, and develop conservation status assessments (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024).

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