Medicosma is a genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rutaceae, all native to New Guinea, Australia or New Caledonia. They usually have simple leaves arranged in opposite pairs, flowers arranged in cymes with four sepals, four petals and eight stamens. The fruit is a follicle fused at the base in groups of up to four, each containing one or two brown or black seeds.

Medicosma
Medicosma cunninghamii in the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Zanthoxyloideae
Genus: Medicosma
Hook.f.[1]
Synonyms[1]

Description

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Plants in the genus Medicosma are shrubs or trees that usually have simple leaves arranged in opposite pairs but the leaves are sometimes arranged alternately and sometimes trifoliate. The flowers are usually arranged in cymes, sometimes solitary, in leaf axils and are usually bisexual with four sepals, four petals and eight stamens. The sepals are fused at the base and persist in the fruit. The petals are usually free from each other but usually overlap each other slightly. The fruit consists of up to four oval follicles fused at the base, each containing one or two brown to black seeds.[2][3]

Taxonomy

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The genus Medicosma was first formally described in 1862 by William Jackson Hooker in Genera Plantarum.[4][5]

Species list

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The following is a list of species accepted by Plants of the World Online as at July 2020:[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Medicosma". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  2. ^ Richards, P.G. "Genus Medicosma". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  3. ^ Hartley, Thomas G.; Wilson, Annette J.G., eds. (2013). Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. pp. 88–89. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Medicosma". APNI. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  5. ^ Hooker, William Jackson; Bentham, George, eds. (7 August 1862). Genera Plantarum (Volume 1). Vol. 1. London: A. Black. p. 281. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Medicosma". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
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  •   Media related to Medicosma at Wikimedia Commons
  • Brophy, Joseph J.; Goldsack, Robert J.; Forster, Paul I. (2004). "The Leaf Oils of the Australian Species of Medicosma (Rutaceae)". Journal of Essential Oil Research. 16 (3): 166–6. doi:10.1080/10412905.2004.9698683. S2CID 97902192.