PlantaeDB Logo
Login Sign-up

Genus Cedrelopsis in Family Rutaceae

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!

Cedrelopsis is a small, primarily woody genus in Meliaceae with an estimated dozen or so species endemic to Madagascar. It is a typical element of dry deciduous and subhumid woodlands on limestone, quartzite, and lateritic substrates, reaching into littoral thickets and lower montane formations but largely absent from the wet eastern rainforests. A formal type species is rarely stabilized in recent treatments; the genus name, however, was introduced by Baillon in 1889 and remains widely used in modern checklists and regional floras.

The genus is diagnosable by the combination of imparipinnate leaves with conspicuous peltate or stellate scales that give a characteristic lepidote sheen, free stipules (often very small and early caducous), and pentamerous flowers in axillary thyrses or dichasial clusters. The calyx is deeply lobed or reduced to small lobes; petals are free and usually reflexed at anthesis; the androecium comprises antherodes that are fused into a tube or short sheath around the disc and the style head. The superior ovary bears (3–)5 distinct or partially united locules with axile placentation, each containing one or two pendulous ovules. The fruit is a septicidal or circumscissile capsule that often dehisces only at the base, with septate partitions separating the seeds; seeds are flattened with a membranous wing, indicating wind dispersal.

Diversity is concentrated in the western and southern karst and subarid zones of Madagascar, with multiple narrowly endemic taxa in local limestone outcrops and lateritic plateaus. The patterns fit a typical Madagascar dry forest syndrome of localized radiations with edaphic specialization, although limited collecting and taxonomic confusion still obscure finer boundaries among species. Nothing definitive has been published on pollination beyond frequent visitation by insects and typical meliaceous floral traits, and seeds are aerenchymatous and wind-dispersed.

Phylogenetic work places Cedrelopsis within the Swietenioideae, often near Quivisianthe and within the broader Swietenieae–Cedreleae complex, though the exact subgeneric treatment and the status of Quivisianthe as a segregate or a synonym remain unsettled. The last comprehensive taxonomic monograph (Mabberley, 1982) established the modern understanding of the genus and keyed species, while later revisions and treatments (see Asturias & Lowry, 2018) have clarified synonymy and added new taxa. Alternative placements around Swietenioideae have been proposed over time, and no formal sectional system has been widely adopted. A base chromosome number of x=20 is typical for the family and reported for some Meliaceae but remains to be critically documented for Cedrelopsis itself.

Cedar-wood aroma and past timber exploitation characterize the economic image of Meliaceae, but Cedrelopsis is not a major timber crop; a few species enter local horticulture for their fragrant foliage and ornamental habit, though many are too rare for regular cultivation. No species are recorded as invasive.

Most taxa are known from small, fragmented populations; habitat loss, charcoal production, and mining pressures are the main threats, and taxonomic uncertainties hamper conservation planning. Field surveys integrating recent phylogenetic and taxonomic syntheses will be essential to delineate conservation units and secure the long-term persistence of the genus.

Pick a Species to see its components: