Canthium

{{Short description|Genus of plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Canthium coromandelicum near Hyderabad W IMG_7604.jpg |image_caption = ''Canthium coromandelicum'' |display_parents = 2 |taxon = Canthium |authority = Lam.<ref name=POWO>{{cite POWO | title = ''Canthium'' | id = 34290-1 | access-date = 9 October 2023}}</ref> |type_species = ''Canthium coromandelicum'' |type_species_authority = (Burm.f.) Alston |synonyms = * ''Clusiophyllea'' Baill. * ''Dondisia'' DC. * ''Lycioserissa'' Roem. & Schult. * ''Plectroniella'' {{small|Robyns (1928)}} * ''Psilostoma'' Klotzsch ex Eckl. & Zeyh. |synonyms_ref = <ref name=POWO/> }} [[File:Canthium coromandelicum near Hyderabad W IMG 7609.jpg|thumb|250px|''Canthium coromandelicum'']]

'''''Canthium''''' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny.

==Distribution== ''Canthium'' species were predominantly found in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand and the Philippines.<ref name=Bridson1992>{{cite journal|author=Bridson DM|year=1992|title=The genus ''Canthium'' (Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae) in tropical Africa|journal=Kew Bulletin|volume=47|issue=3|pages=353–401|doi=10.2307/4110569|jstor=4110569|bibcode=1992KewBu..47..353B }}</ref> A small number of species was found in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Only a limited number of species were found on the African continent, especially in Southern and East Africa.<ref name="WCSP">{{cite web|url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/qsearch.do?plantName=Canthium|title=''Canthium'' in the World Checklist of Rubiaceae|accessdate=8 November 2016}}</ref>

==Taxonomy== ''Canthium'' was named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1785 in Encyclopédie Méthodique.<ref name="lamarck1785">{{cite book|author=Lamarck J-B|year=1785|title=Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières|volume=1|pages=602}}</ref> The name is a latinisation of "kantankara", a Malayalam name from Kerala for ''Canthium coromandelicum''. ''Kantan'' means "shining" and ''kara'' means "a spiny shrub".<ref name="Quattrocchi2000">{{cite book|author=Quattrocchi U|year=2000|title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names|volume=1|publisher=CRC Press|location=Boca Raton, New York, Washington DC, London|isbn=978-0-8493-2675-2}}</ref> The biological type for the genus consists of specimens originally described by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck as ''Canthium parviflorum''<ref name="ingcanthium">''Canthium'' In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile</ref> but this species is now included in ''Canthium coromandelicum''.<ref name=Bridson1992/> ''Canthium'' is a member of Vanguerieae, a tribe that is monophyletic and easily recognized morphologically, but in which generic boundaries were, for a long time, very unclear.<ref name=Lantz2005>{{cite journal|vauthors=Lantz H, Bremer B|year=2005|title=Phylogeny of the complex Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae) genera ''Fadogia'', ''Rytigynia'', and ''Vangueria'' with close relatives and a new circumscription of ''Vangueria''|journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution|volume=253|issue=1–4|pages=159–183|doi=10.1007/s00606-005-0313-9|bibcode=2005PSyEv.253..159L |s2cid=30867982}}</ref> ''Canthium'' was especially problematic, and until the 1980s, it was defined broadly and known to be polyphyletic. ''Psydrax'' was separated from it in 1985,<ref name=Bridson1985>{{cite journal|author=Bridson DM|year=1985|title=The reinstatement of ''Psydrax'' (Rubiaceae, subfam. Cinchonoideae tribe Vanguerieae) and a revision of the African species|journal=Kew Bulletin|volume=40|issue=4|pages=687–725|doi=10.2307/4109853|jstor=4109853|bibcode=1985KewBu..40..687B }}</ref> as was ''Keetia'' in 1986.<ref name=Bridson1986>{{cite journal|author=Bridson DM|year=1986|title=The reinstatement of the African genus ''Keetia'' (Rubiaceae subfam. Cinchonoideae tribe Vanguerieae)|journal=Kew Bulletin|volume=41|issue=4|pages=965–994|doi=10.2307/4102996|jstor=4102996|bibcode=1986KewBu..41..965B }}</ref> These were followed by ''Pyrostria'' and ''Multidentia'' in 1987.<ref name=Bridson1987a>{{cite journal|author=Bridson DM|year=1987|title=Studies in African Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae: a new circumscription of ''Pyrostria'' and a new subgenus, ''Canthium'' subgen. Bullockia|journal=Kew Bulletin|volume=47|issue=3|pages=611–639|doi=10.2307/4110068|jstor=4110068|bibcode=1987KewBu..42..611B }}</ref><ref name=Bridson1987b>{{cite journal|author=Bridson DM|year=1987|title=The recognition and recircumscription of the African genus ''Multidentia'' (Rubiaceae - Vanguerieae)|journal=Kew Bulletin|volume=47|issue=3|pages=641–654|doi=10.2307/4110069|jstor=4110069|bibcode=1987KewBu..42..641B }}</ref> The subgenus ''Afrocanthium'' was raised to generic rank in 2004,<ref name=Lantz2004>{{cite journal|vauthors=Lantz H, Bremer B|year=2004|title=Phylogeny inferred from morphology and DNA data: characterizing well-supported groups in Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae)|journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=146|issue=3|pages=257–283|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2004.00338.x|doi-access=free}}</ref> followed by ''Bullockia'' in 2009.<ref name=Razafim2009>{{cite journal|vauthors=Razafimandimbison SG, Lantz H, Mouly A, Bremer B|year=2009|title=Evolutionary trends, major lineages, and new generic limits in the dioecious group of the tribe Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae): insights into the evolution of functional dioecy|journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden|volume=96|issue=1|pages=161–181|doi=10.3417/2006191|s2cid=86065468}}</ref> A few species were transferred to ''Canthium'' from ''Rytigynia'' and other genera in 2004.<ref name=Lantz2004/> The genus was further reduced by the transfer of species to ''Peponidium'' and ''Pyrostria''.<ref name=Kainulainen2016>{{cite journal|vauthors=Kainulainen K, Razafimandimbison SG |year=2016|title=New taxonomic combinations in West Indian Ocean Vanguerieae (Rubiaceae)|journal=Phytotaxa|volume=282|issue=4|pages=267–272|doi=10.11646/phytotaxa.282.4.3}}</ref> In 2016, two ''Canthium'' species endemic to the Philippines were transferred to a genus of their own, ''Kanapia''.<ref name=Arriola2016>{{cite journal|vauthors=Arriola AH, Paraguison LD, Alejandro GJ |year=2016|title=''Kanapia'' (Vanguerieae): a new endemic genus of Philippine Rubiaceae|journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution|volume=302|issue=7|pages=911–920|doi=10.1007/s00606-016-1307-5|bibcode=2016PSyEv.302..911A |s2cid=14815565}}</ref> The final circumscription of ''Canthium'' will remain in doubt until phylogenetic studies achieve greater resolution for the clade containing ''Canthium coromandelicum'' and its closest relatives.

==Species== {{As of|2023}}, Plants of the World Online recognises the following species:<ref name=POWO/> {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * ''Canthium aciculatum'' Ridl. * ''Canthium angustifolium'' Roxb. * ''Canthium arboreum'' Vidal * ''Canthium armatum'' {{small|(K.Schum.) Lantz}} * ''Canthium aurantiacum'' Merr. & L.M.Perry * ''Canthium berberidifolium'' Geddes * ''Canthium bipinnatum'' (Blanco) Merr. * ''Canthium brunneum'' (Merr.) Merr. * ''Canthium bugoyense'' {{small|(K.Krause) Lantz}} * ''Canthium calvum'' Craib * ''Canthium cambodianum'' Pit. * ''Canthium campanulatum'' Thwaites * ''Canthium cavaleriei'' H.Lév. * ''Canthium ciliatum'' (D.Dietr.) Kuntze * ''Canthium coffeoides'' Pierre ex Pit. * ''Canthium congestiflorum'' Ridl. * ''Canthium cordatum'' Dillwyn * ''Canthium coromandelicum'' (Brum.f.) Alston * ''Canthium depressinerve'' Ridl. * ''Canthium ellipticum'' (Merr.) Merr. * ''Canthium fenicis'' (Merr.) Merr. * ''Canthium ferrugineum'' Craib * ''Canthium filipendulum'' Pierre ex Pit. * ''Canthium fraternum'' Miq. * ''Canthium glaucum'' Hiern * ''Canthium gracilipes'' Kurz * ''Canthium hainanense'' (Merr.) Lantz * ''Canthium hirtellum'' Ridl. * ''Canthium hispidonervosum'' (De Wild.) C.M.Evrard * ''Canthium horridulum'' Craib * ''Canthium horridum'' Blume * ''Canthium inerme'' (L.f.) Kuntze * ''Canthium korthalsianum'' Miq. * ''Canthium kuntzeanum'' Bridson * ''Canthium laeve'' Teijsm. & Binn. * ''Canthium lasianthoides'' Miq. * ''Canthium libericum'' Dinkl. * ''Canthium longipes'' Geddes * ''Canthium lucidum'' R.Br. * ''Canthium macrocarpum'' Thwaites * ''Canthium malayense'' K.M.Wong * ''Canthium megacarpum'' (Merr.) Merr. * ''Canthium megistocarpum'' Merr. & L.M.Perry * ''Canthium merrillianum'' Mabb. * ''Canthium mite'' Bartl. ex DC. * ''Canthium molle'' King & Gamble * ''Canthium moluccanum'' Roxb. * ''Canthium oblongum'' (Valeton) Kaneh. * ''Canthium obscurum'' {{small|W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes}} * ''Canthium oliganthum'' (Miq.) Boerl. * ''Canthium oligocarpum'' Hiern * ''Canthium parvifolium'' Roxb. * ''Canthium paucinervium'' (Merr.) Merr. * ''Canthium pedunculare'' Cav. * ''Canthium perakanthus'' ined. * ''Canthium polyanthum'' Miq. * ''Canthium puberulum'' Thwaites ex Hook.f. * ''Canthium quadratum'' Craib * ''Canthium rheedei'' DC. * ''Canthium sarcocarpum'' (Merr.) Merr. * ''Canthium sarmentosum'' Craib * ''Canthium scabridum'' Ridl. * ''Canthium scandens'' Blume * ''Canthium schlechterianum'' Merr. & L.M.Perry * ''Canthium simile'' Merr. & Chun * ''Canthium sordidum'' (K.Schum.) Bullock * ''Canthium spirostylum'' Miq. * ''Canthium stellulatum'' Craib * ''Canthium strigosum'' Craib * ''Canthium strychnoides'' Craib * ''Canthium subaureum'' Craib * ''Canthium subcapitatum'' (Merr.) Merr. * ''Canthium suberosum'' Codd * ''Canthium subsessilifolium'' (Merr.) Merr. * ''Canthium tavoyanum'' (R.Parker) Merr. * ''Canthium thonningii'' {{small|Benth.}} * ''Canthium travancoricum'' Bedd. * ''Canthium trichophorum'' Quisumb. & Merr. * ''Canthium umbelligerum'' Miq. * ''Canthium vanwykii'' Tilney & Kok * ''Canthium villarii'' Vidal * ''Canthium violaceum'' Zoll. & Moritzi {{div col end}}

==References== {{Commons category}} {{Reflist}}

Category:Canthium Category:Rubiaceae genera Category:Flora of the Afrotropical realm Category:Flora of the Indomalayan realm Category:Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot