• Source: Helwingia

The genus Helwingia consists of shrubs or rarely small trees native to eastern Asia, the Himalayas, and northern Indochina. It is the only genus in the family Helwingiaceae.




Description


The plants have alternate, evergreen or deciduous leaves and small inflorescences that are epiphyllous (growing from the leaf surface). During development, the flowers appear separate from the leaves,, eventually fusing with the leaf midrib. Flowers are small and yellow-green or purple, followed by red or black berries. Plants are dioecious.




= Epiphyllous inflorescences

=
This trait is rather unusual among plants. This atypical floral position upon a leaf is believed to be an adaption to insect pollination. Pollinators which are too large to be supported by the floral pedicels, land on the leaf surface and can pollinate the flowers, which would not be able to support the pollinators on their own.




Taxonomy


The APG II classification (2003) places them in the order Aquifoliales, along with the hollies and Phyllonomaceae, which also has epiphyllous flowers.
The family Helwingiaceae does not exist in the
Cronquist classification (1981), which places this genus in the Cornaceae (dogwood family). Helwingia has also previously been placed in the Araliaceae (ginseng family).
The family is named for botanist Georg Andreas Helwing.




Species


Species adapted from the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families:

Helwingia chinensis Batalin - Thailand, Myanmar, China: Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan
Helwingia himalaica Hook.f. & Thomson ex C.B.Clarke - Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, India: Assam, Sikkim, China: Tibet, Chongqing, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan
Helwingia japonica (Thunb.) F.Dietr. - Japan (incl. Ryukyu Islands), Korea, Taiwan, Myanmar, Bhutan, Vietnam, India: Assam, Sikkim, China: Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang
Helwingia omeiensis (W.P.Fang) H.Hara & S.Kuros. - China: Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan




References






External links



Aquifoliales - Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, consulted 2007-01-26.
Helwingiaceae Archived 2006-11-01 at the Wayback Machine, Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards. The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 29 July 2006.
Also see Cornaceae Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine
Helwingiaceae from NCBI-Taxonomy
Helwingiaceae, USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN Online Database). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Consulted 2007-01-26.

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Helwingiaceae
• Helwingia
• Helwingia japonica
• Helwingia chinensis
• Spring greens
• Phylloclade
• Sansai
• Georg Andreas Helwing
• Sphinx constricta
• Glossary of plant morphology
• List of plant family names with etymologies