# Menodora > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Menodora > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Menodora.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menodora > Source revision: 1330960227 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Genus of flowering plants Menodora M. spinescens Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Clade: Embryophytes Clade: Tracheophytes Clade: Spermatophytes Clade: Angiosperms Clade: Eudicots Clade: Asterids Order: Lamiales Family: Oleaceae Tribe: Jasmineae Genus: Menodora Humb. and Bonpl. Species See text Synonyms[1] Bolivaria Cham. & Schltdl. Calyptrospermum A.Dietr. Menodoropsis (A.Gray) Small ***Menodora*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [perennial plants](/source/Perennial_plant) and [shrubs](/source/Shrub) in the olive family [Oleaceae](/source/Oleaceae). Its 23 species (as per Green 2003) are found in the temperate [Americas](/source/Americas) and in southern [Africa](/source/Africa). These are uniform species of deserts and arid [grasslands](/source/Grasslands) or savannas. ## Description The usually bisexual flowers have a united [calyx](/source/Sepal) with 5-10 lobes (rarely more), while the [corolla](/source/Corolla_(flower)) is similarly united but with 4-6 lobes. The corolla is a pretty, bright yellow (except for *M. spinescens*, whose corollas are white), and is often scented. The fruit is a didymous, bilobed capsule with each globose [locule](/source/Locule) or lobe containing 2-4 seeds. In the majority of species, each locule also features circumscissile dehiscence. Vegetatively, the plants are generally unremarkable, with a "green-stick" look that is common to many desert plants. In the dry seasons, plants may lose their generally small or reduced leaves altogether. Leaf shape within the genus is highly variable, ranging from short and linear to almost feathery and pinnatisect. Leaves are most commonly found arranged in opposite pairs, but in some individuals may be predominantly alternate. ## Etymology Willis Jepson mistakenly suggested that the origin of the genus name was rather obscure, perhaps deriving from the Greek for "half-moon spear" for the appearance of the dehisced fruit on its pedicel. In reality, the name was specifically derived from the Greek μενος (*menos*), meaning "force," and δωρον (*doron*), meaning "gift," referring to the sustenance the plants provided to the horses of [Humboldt](/source/Alexander_von_Humboldt) and [Bonpland](/source/Aim%C3%A9_Bonpland) (1809) when they first encountered the genus in the present state of Hidalgo in Mexico. ## Selected species - *[Menodora africana](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_africana&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora coulteri](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_coulteri&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora decemfida](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_decemfida&action=edit&redlink=1)* (Gill ex Hook. & Arn.) A.Gray – Tenfinger menodora - *[Menodora gypsophila](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_gypsophila&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora helianthemoides](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_helianthemoides&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora heterophylla](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_heterophylla&action=edit&redlink=1)* Moric. ex DC. – Low menodora - *[Menodora hintoniorum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_hintoniorum&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora integrifolia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_integrifolia&action=edit&redlink=1)* (Cham. & Schltdl.) Steud. - *[Menodora intricata](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_intricata&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora jaliscana](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_jaliscana&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora juncea](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_juncea&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora linoides](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_linoides&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora longiflora](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_longiflora&action=edit&redlink=1)* A.Gray – Showy menodora - *[Menodora mexicana](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_mexicana&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora muellerae](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_muellerae&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora pulchella](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_pulchella&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora robusta](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_robusta&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora scabra](/source/Menodora_scabra)* (formerly *Menodora scoparia*) A.Gray – Rough menodora - *[Menodora scoparia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_scoparia&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora spinescens](/source/Menodora_spinescens)* A.Gray – Spiny menodora - *[Menodora tehuacana](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_tehuacana&action=edit&redlink=1)* - *[Menodora yecorana](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_yecorana&action=edit&redlink=1)*[2][3] ## Taxonomy *[Menodora longiflora](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Menodora_longiflora&action=edit&redlink=1)* has occasionally been treated as the monotypic genus *Menodoropsis* (Small, 1903) due to the extraordinary length of its corolla tube (to nearly 6 cm, as opposed to typical lengths of 0.3 to 0.7 cm in most other species), but based on both morphological and molecular data it plainly belongs within *Menodora*. Small took the name for the genus from one of the sections of the *Menodora* recognized by Asa Gray (1852). Neither the sectional classification of Gray (1852) nor Steyermark (1932) have been upheld by recent molecular studies. One of the more distinctive things about this genus is the pattern of disjunction or non-continuous distribution. In the [Americas](/source/Americas), the distribution jumps over the tropics, with only a few species whose individual distributions just cross into the tropics (e.g., north to central [Bolivia](/source/Bolivia), and south to [Oaxaca](/source/Oaxaca) in [Mexico](/source/Mexico)). This is a common pattern found in many genera, but not many others with a similar amphitropical distribution also have connections across the [Atlantic](/source/Atlantic_Ocean) with [Africa](/source/Africa). This intercontinental distribution of *Menodora* was often cited as evidence of [continental drift](/source/Continental_drift) or the breakup of the [Pangaea](/source/Pangaea) or [Gondwanan](/source/Gondwana) [supercontinents](/source/Supercontinent), but more recently it has been judged to be the result of long distance dispersal. ## References Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Menodora](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Menodora). [Wikispecies](/source/Wikispecies) has information related to ***[Menodora](https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Search/Menodora)***. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-GRIN_1-0)** ["Genus: *Menodora* Humb. & Bonpl"](https://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?7462). *Germplasm Resources Information Network*. United States Department of Agriculture. 2008-01-31. Retrieved 2010-10-19. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-ITIS_2-0)** ["*Menodora*"](https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=32981). [Integrated Taxonomic Information System](/source/Integrated_Taxonomic_Information_System). Retrieved 2010-10-19. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-GRINSpecies_3-0)** ["GRIN Species Records of *Menodora*"](https://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?7462). *Germplasm Resources Information Network*. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2010-10-19. Taxon identifiers Menodora Wikidata: Q2712889 Wikispecies: Menodora CoL: 8VSN9 EoL: 70810 GBIF: 3172246 GRIN: 7462 iNaturalist: 72234 IPNI: 30003654-2 IRMNG: 1347189 ITIS: 32981 NCBI: 126439 Open Tree of Life: 197941 PLANTS: MENOD POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30003654-2 Tropicos: 40017093 WFO: wfo-4000023741 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Menodora](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menodora) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menodora?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.