Myrsine

Location & distribution maps

Common name:         ...

• In the United States, members of this genus are known as colicwood

Conservation status: ...

Etymology:   

Flowers

Fruit:                            

• The one-seeded, indehiscent fruit is a thin-fleshed globose drupe

• The flowers and fruits often do not develop until after leaf fall and thus appear naked on the branches

• The fruits often do not mature until the year after flowering

• The calyx is persistent

Leaves:         

• The leathery, evergreen leaves are simple and alternate, with smooth or toothed margins and without stipules

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

Habitat:   

Distribution:                  

• It is found nearly worldwide, primarily in tropical and subtropical areas

Species:                     

• World:           282 species are currently accepted

• Australia:     

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy

  • Myrsine is a genus of flowering plants in the family Primulaceae

  • It was formerly placed in the family Myrsinaceae before this was merged into the Primulaceae

  • It contains over 280 species, including several notable radiations, such as the matipo of New Zealand and the kōlea of Hawaiʻi (the New Zealand "black matipo", Pittosporum tenuifolium, is not related to Myrsine)

  • Some species, especially M. africana, are grown as ornamental shrubs

  • The Pacific basin and New World species formerly separated in the genera Rapanea and Suttonia (distinguished from the African and Southeast Asian Myrsine sensu stricto by having the style absent and staminal tube and filaments completely adnate to the corolla) are now generally included in Myrsine

• Species

  • See: List of Myrsine species in Wikipedia

Sources of information:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrsine (2023)