Olmediella

Olmediella is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae. It consists of one species of trees: Olmediella betschleriana, which is native to Central America. Formerly placed in the heterogeneous family Flacourtiaceae,[1] Olmediella is now classified in Salicaceae,[2] along with close relatives Bennettiodendron, Carrierea, Idesia, Itoa, Macrohasseltia, Poliothyrsis, and even the willows (Salix) and cottonwoods (Populus) themselves.[3]

Olmediella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Salicaceae
Subfamily: Salicoideae
Tribe: Saliceae
Genus: Olmediella
Baill.
Species:
O. betschleriana
Binomial name
Olmediella betschleriana
(Göpp.) Loes.

Olmediella has a number of features that point to its close relationship to the willows (Salix), including flowers subtended by prominent bracts, flowers with a highly reduced calyx, and nectaries located next to each stamen or pistil. Its sometimes spiny-margined leaves, though, are unlike those of any Salix, and some early botanists even included the species in the genus Ilex.[3]

References
  1. Sleumer, H.O. 1980. Flacourtiaceae. Flora Neotropica 22: 1-499.
  2. Chase, Mark W.; Zmarzty, S.; Lledó, M.D.; Wurdack, K.J.; Swensen, S.M.; Fay, M.F. (2002). "When in doubt, put it in Flacourtiaceae: a molecular phylogenetic analysis based on plastid rbcL DNA sequences". Kew Bulletin. 57 (1): 141–181. doi:10.2307/4110825. JSTOR 4110825.
  3. Alford, M.H. 2005. Systematic Studies in Flacourtiaceae. Dissertation, Cornell University.


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