{{Short description|Genus of trees}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Heteropyxis natalensis01.jpg |display_parents = 2 |parent_authority = |taxon = Heteropyxis |authority = Harv. |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = ''Heteropyxis canescens''<br /> ''Heteropyxis dehniae''<br /> ''Heteropyxis natalensis'' }}
'''''Heteropyxis''''' is a genus which includes three species of small evergreen trees. It was previously placed alone in the family '''Heteropyxidaceae''', but is now placed basally within Myrtaceae. The species of ''Heteropyxis'' are native to southern Africa.
''Heteropyxis natalensis'', commonly known as '''lavender tree''' or ''laventelboom'', ranges from Zimbabwe through Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal of South Africa. It is a slender, upright tree which grows 5–7 metres in height, at forest margins, rocky outcrops, hillsides, and termite mounds. It bears panicles of fragrant flowers, cream to pale yellow in colour, from December to March.
Many classification schemes place ''Heteropyxis'' within the family Myrtaceae. Recent embryological and DNA analyses seem to indicate that ''Heteropyxis'' and ''Psiloxylon'', the sole members of the family Psiloxylaceae, are sister taxa to the Myrtaceae, but diverged before the origin of the common ancestor of the Myrtaceae.
==References== {{Commons category}} {{Reflist}} * Tobe, Hiroshi and Raven, Peter H. "Embryology and Systematic Position of Heteropyxis (Myrtales)". ''American Journal of Botany'', Vol. 74, No. 2 (Feb., 1987), pp. 197–208. {{Doi|10.2307/2444021}}
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Category:Myrtaceae genera Category:Flora of South Africa Category:Flora of Zimbabwe Category:Taxa named by William Henry Harvey
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