Medinilla is a genus of about 150 species of
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s in the family
Melastomataceaeright|thumb|200px|Characteristic venation of many melastomesThe family Melastomataceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics comprising some 200 genera and 4500 species...
, native to tropical regions of the Old World from
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
(two species) east through
MadagascarMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to...
(about 70 species) and southern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
to the western
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
islands. The genus was named after J. de Medinilla, governor of the
Mariana IslandsThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
in 1820.
They are
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s or
lianaA liana is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. Lianas are especially characteristic of tropical moist...
s. The
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
are opposite or whorled, or alternate in some species.
Discussion
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Medinilla is a genus of about 150 species of
flowering plantThe flowering plants or angiosperms are the most diverse group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of seed plants...
s in the family
Melastomataceaeright|thumb|200px|Characteristic venation of many melastomesThe family Melastomataceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants found mostly in the tropics comprising some 200 genera and 4500 species...
, native to tropical regions of the Old World from
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
(two species) east through
MadagascarMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to...
(about 70 species) and southern
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
to the western
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
islands. The genus was named after J. de Medinilla, governor of the
Mariana IslandsThe Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
in 1820.
They are
evergreenIn botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
shrubA shrub or bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall. A large number of plants can be either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s or
lianaA liana is any of various long-stemmed, usually woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in order to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. Lianas are especially characteristic of tropical moist...
s. The
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
are opposite or whorled, or alternate in some species. The
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
s are white or pink, produced in large
panicleA panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches ....
s.
Selected species
There are approximately 418 species in this genus, including:
- Medinilla acuminata. Philippines
- Medinilla arboricola. China.
- Medinilla assamica. China.
- Medinilla astronioides. Philippines
- Medinilla beamanii
Medinilla beamanii is a species in the genus Medinilla native to the island of Borneo....
. Borneo.
- Medinilla brevipendunculata. Philippines
- Medinilla clemetis. Philippines
- Medinilla congesta. Philippines
- Medinilla cordata. Philippines
- Medinilla cumingii. Philippines.
- Medinilla curtisii
- Medinilla erythrophylla. China, Nepal.
- Medinilla fengii. China.
- Medinilla formosana. China.
- Medinilla fuligineo-glandulifera. China.
- Medinilla hainanensis. China.
- Medinilla halconensis. Philippines
- Medinilla hayataiana. China.
- Medinilla himalayana. China.
- Medinilla involucrata. Philippines
- Medinilla lanceata. China.
- Medinilla luchuenensis. China.
- Medinilla magnifica
Medinilla magnifica is a species in the genus Medinilla native to the Philippines....
. Philippines.
- Medinilla malindangensis. Philippines
- Medinilla merrillii. Philippines.
- Medinilla mindorensis. Philippines.
- Medinilla miniata. Philippines.
- Medinilla multiflora. Philippines.
- Medinilla mytiformis. Philippines.
- Medinilla nana. China.
- Medinilla petelotii. China.
- Medinilla ramiflora. Philippines
- Medinilla rubicunda. China.
- Medinilla scortechinii Philippines.
- Medinilla sedifolia
- Medinilla septentrionalis. China.
- Medinilla speciosa. Philippines
- Medinilla venosa. Indonesia, Philippines
- Medinilla yunnanensis. China.
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