Parsonsia
Encyclopedia
Parsonsia is a genus of woody vines of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae
. Species occur from South East Asia to New Guinea
as well as in New Caledonia
, Vanuatu
, Fiji
, Australia
and New Zealand
.
are opposite, the shape and size of juvenile leaves often bearing little resemblance to the adult leaves. The latex
may be clear and colourless, pale yellow or milky white.
The flowers are green, white, cream, yellow, orange, red, pink or brown, sometimes with contrasting markings. These are followed by elongated pod-like capsules, the two follicles eventually separating to reveal numerous seeds with long, silky hairs.
in his paper On the Asclepiadeae published in Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society
. He named the genus in honour of James Parsons (1705–1770), an English physician and Fellow of the Royal Society
.
The generic name Parsonsia R.Br. (1810) is conserved
against the earlier homonym
Parsonsia P.Browne
which was given to a genus in the family Lythraceae
.The latter genus is now included in Cuphea
.
There are about 130 species in the genus including:
Apocynaceae
The Apocynaceae or dogbane family is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas.Many species are tall trees found in tropical rainforests, and most are from the tropics and subtropics, but some grow in tropical dry, xeric environments. There are also perennial herbs...
. Species occur from South East Asia to New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
as well as in New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Description
The leavesLeaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are opposite, the shape and size of juvenile leaves often bearing little resemblance to the adult leaves. The latex
Latex
Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...
may be clear and colourless, pale yellow or milky white.
The flowers are green, white, cream, yellow, orange, red, pink or brown, sometimes with contrasting markings. These are followed by elongated pod-like capsules, the two follicles eventually separating to reveal numerous seeds with long, silky hairs.
Taxonomy
The genus was named and formerly described in 1810 by botanist Robert BrownRobert Brown (botanist)
Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...
in his paper On the Asclepiadeae published in Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society
Wernerian Natural History Society
The Wernerian Natural History Society , commonly abbreviated as the Wernerian Society, was a learned society interested in the broad field of natural history, and saw papers presented on various topics such as mineralogy, plants, insects, and scholarly expeditions...
. He named the genus in honour of James Parsons (1705–1770), an English physician and Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
.
The generic name Parsonsia R.Br. (1810) is conserved
Conserved name
A conserved name or nomen conservandum is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. Nomen conservandum is a Latin term, meaning a "name which should be conserved"...
against the earlier homonym
Homonym
In linguistics, a homonym is, in the strict sense, one of a group of words that often but not necessarily share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings...
Parsonsia P.Browne
Patrick Browne
Patrick Browne was an Irish physician and botanist.-Career:Browne was born in Woodstock, County Mayo, sent to relatives on Antigua in 1737 and returned to Europe due to ill health after two years. He studied medicine, natural history and especially botany at Reims, Paris and Leyden, qualifying...
which was given to a genus in the family Lythraceae
Lythraceae
Lythraceae are a family of flowering plants. It includes about 620 species of mostly herbs, with some shrubs and trees, in 31 genera. Major genera include Cuphea , Lagerstroemia , Nesaea , Rotala , and Lythrum...
.The latter genus is now included in Cuphea
Cuphea
Cuphea is a genus containing about 260 species of annual and perennial flowering plants native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas. The species range from low-growing herbs to semi-woody shrubs up to 2 m tall. Commonly they are known as cupheas, or, in the case of some species,...
.
Species
- Parsonsia alboflavescens (Dennst.) Mabb. - native to ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Sri LankaSri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, MyanmarMyanmarBurma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, ThailandThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, CambodiaCambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, LaosLaosLaos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. - Parsonsia apiculata D.J.Middleton
- Parsonsia appressa D.J.Middleton - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia bartlensis J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia blakeana J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia brachiata Baillon ex Guillaumin - endemic to New CaledoniaNew CaledoniaNew Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
- Parsonsia brassii Markgr. - native to Papua New GuineaPapua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
- Parsonsia brisbanensis J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia browniiParsonsia browniiParsonsia brownii is a woody vine of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It occurs in rainforest in the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania in Australia.-Description:...
(Britten) Pichon - Mountain Silkpod, native to Australia - Parsonsia burnensis Boerl. - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia capsularisParsonsia capsularisParsonsia capsularis is a climbing plant endemic to New Zealand. Common names for the plant are Akakaikiore, Akakiore, Kaikū, Kaikūkū, Kaiwhiria, Tōtoroene, Tōtorowene, New Zealand jasmine and Small flowered jasmine...
(Forster f.) R. Br. - endemic to New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... - Parsonsia catalpaecarpa - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia constricta D.J.Middleton
- Parsonsia crebriflora Baill. - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia curvisepala K. Schum. - native to Papua New Guinea and The Philippines
- Parsonsia densiflora D.J.Middleton - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia densivestita C.T.White - native to Australia
- Parsonsia diaphanophleba F.Muell. - native to Australia
- Parsonsia dorrigoensis J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia edulis (G. Benn.) Guillaumin - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia effusa S. Moore - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia eucalyptophylla F.Muell. - Gargaloo, native to Australia
- Parsonsia ferruginea J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia flavescens Merr. & L.M. Perry - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia flexilis - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia flexuosa Baill. - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia franchetii - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia fulva S.T.Blake - Furry Silkpod, native to Australia
- Parsonsia goniostemon Hand.-Mazz. - native to China
- Parsonsia grandiflora D.J.Middleton - native to Indonesia
- Parsonsia grayana J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia hebetica Markgr. - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia heterophylla A. Cunn.- native to New Zealand
- Parsonsia howeana J.B.Williams - endemic to Lord Howe IslandLord Howe IslandLord Howe Island is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, directly east of mainland Port Macquarie, and about from Norfolk Island. The island is about 11 km long and between 2.8 km and 0.6 km wide with an area of...
- Parsonsia induplicata F.Muell. - Thin-leaved Silkpod, native to Australia
- Parsonsia kimberleyensis J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia kroombitensis J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia laevis - native to FijiFijiFiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
and New GuineaNew GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago... - Parsonsia lanceolata R.Br. - Rough Silkpod, native to Australia
- Parsonsia langiana F.Muell. - native to Australia
- Parsonsia larcomensis J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia largiflorens (F.Muell. ex Benth.) S.T.Blake - native to Australia
- Parsonsia lata Markgr.- native to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia latifolia (Benth.) S.T.Blake - native to Australia
- Parsonsia laxiflora - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia leichhardtii F.Muell. - native to Australia
- Parsonsia lenticellata C.T.White - native to Australia
- Parsonsia lilacina F.Muell. - Crisped Silkpod, native to Australia
- Parsonsia longiloba D.J.Middleton
- Parsonsia longiflora Guillaumin - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia longipetiolata J.B.Williams - Silk-leaved Silkpod, native to Australia
- Parsonsia macrophylla Pichon ex Guillaumin. - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia neobudica Guillaumin - native to Papua New Guinea and VanuatuVanuatuVanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
- Parsonsia novoguinensis D.J.Middleton- native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia oligantha (K.Schum.) D.J.Middleton - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia pachycarpa Guillaumin - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia paulforsteri J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia pedunculata Markgr. - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia plaesiophylla S.T.Blake - native to Australia
- Parsonsia populifolia Baill. - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia purpurascens J.B.Williams - Black Silkpod, native to Australia
- Parsonsia rotata Maiden & Betche - Veinless Silkpod, native to Australia
- Parsonsia rubra Kaneh. & Hatus. J. - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia sanguinea Markgr. - native to Papua New Guinea and Australia
- Parsonsia sankowskyana J.B.Williams - native to Australia
- Parsonsia scabra (Labill.) Markgr. -native to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia schoddei D.J.Middleton - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia stramineaParsonsia stramineaParsonsia straminea is a woody vine of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. It occurs in the states of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia....
(R.Br.) F.Muell. - Common Silkpod, Monkey Rope, native to Australia - Parsonsia sundensis D.J.Middleton- native to East TimorEast TimorThe Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
- Parsonsia tenuiflora D.J.Middleton
- Parsonsia tenuis S.T.Blake - native to Australia
- Parsonsia terminaliifolia - endemic to New Caledonia
- Parsonsia vaccinoides Markgr. - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia velutina R.Br. - native to Australia and New Guinea
- Parsonsia ventricosa F.Muell. - Acuminate Silkpod
- Parsonsia warenensis Kanehira & Hatusima - native to Papua New Guinea
- Parsonsia wildensis J.B.Williams- native to Australia
- Parsonsia wongabelensis J.B.Williams- native to Australia