{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Pemphis_acidula_bushes.jpg |image_caption = ''Pemphis acidula'', in its shortest form, on the coast of Réunion Island |taxon = Pemphis |authority = J.R.Forst & G.Forst<ref name=ipni1/> }}
'''''Pemphis''''' is a genus of maritime plants in family Lythraceae. It has only one species described in 1775, ''Pemphis acidula''.<ref name=ipni2/><ref name=POWO/>
[[File:Bonsai33jf.JPG|thumb|''Pemphis acidula'', bonsai]] ''Pemphis'' are highly adaptive. Depending on environmental factors, they are densely branched, or low and spreading bushes or short trees, with main stems that can be furcated and lie nearly prone, or develop into one erect trunk. Leaves can be small, fleshy and succulent, or larger, flat and not fleshy. All surfaces are covered generally in silky, colorless trichomes.<ref name=foc/> The fruits and bee-pollinated flowers are produced throughout the year. Seeds can float, and are sometimes propagated through water dispersal.<ref name=fao/>
== Habitat == Most ''Pemphis'' live either at the verges of mangrove forests, well away from the forest-ocean interface; or they colonize beaches behind the intertidal zone, taking hold on rocks, gravel or sand, laterite or limestone, and frequently on promontories or crags.<ref name=fao/>
== Range and distribution == They are not common, but far ranging from coastal, eastern Africa (including the Seychelles,<ref name=cjp/> and the Zanzibar Archipelago<ref name=fao/>), states with Indian Ocean coastlines, to the Pacific (Philippines,<ref name=phn/> Cook Islands<ref name=gm/>), northwards up to Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands<ref name=foc/> Other places reporting ''Pemphis'' include mainland coastal Tanzania, Thailand, Malaysia (Johore), Singapore, Indonesia (Papua, Sumatra, the Moluccas, Madura and Java), Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong and throughout tropical Australia. On Java in particular (where it is known as '''stigi''' or '''santigi'''), some areas are uncharacteristically abundant.<ref name=fao/>
== Uses == Despite the difficulty presented for the prospective carver, wood from ''Pemphis'' species is highly prized for its extreme heaviness, toughness and resistance to warping. It is usually fashioned into walking canes, fence posts, tool handles, and even anchors, exhibiting a fine finish.<ref name=fao/>
''Pemphis acidula'' is a valuable tropical species for bonsai, particularly in Asia.<ref name=cck/>
== Species == This list is according to World Flora Online.<ref name="POWO">{{cite web |url=https://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000028527#children |title=''Pemphis'' J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. |year=2013 |work=World Flora Online |publisher=World Flora Consortium |accessdate=2 September 2023}}</ref> * ''Pemphis acidula'' <small>J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.</small> (type)<ref name=ipni2/>
Former species include: * ''Pemphis hexandra'' <small>Mart. ''ex'' Koehne</small> = ''Diplusodon hexander'' * ''Pemphis madagascariensis'' <small>(Baker) Koehne</small> = ''Koehneria madagascariensis'' * ''Pemphis stachydifolia'' <small>Mart. ''ex'' Koehne</small> = ''Diplusodon villosissimus''
==See also== * Mangroves
== References == {{Reflist|2|refs=
<ref name=cck>{{cite journal |title=''Pemphis acidula'' — A Tropical Classic |author=Cheng Cheng-Kung |journal=Bonsai Societies of Florida Magazine |year=2007 |volume=XXXVIII; No. 4 |issue=152 (Winter edition) |publisher=Bonsai Societies of Florida (BSF) |location=Cooper City, Florida |url=http://www.bonsai-bsf.com/magazine/BSF_Magazine_07_Issue4.pdf |access-date=2013-08-26 |archive-date=2023-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124073324/http://www.bonsai-bsf.com/magazine/BSF_Magazine_07_Issue4.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref name=cjp>{{ cite journal |journal=Atoll Research Bulletin |title=Notes on Some of the Seychelles Islands, Indian Ocean |author=Piggott, C.J. |year=1961 |volume=83 |pages=1–10 |url=http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/duffy/ARB/076-84/83.pdf |doi=10.5479/si.00775630.83.1 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913131714/http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/duffy/ARB/076-84/83.pdf |archivedate=2006-09-13 }}</ref>
<ref name=fao>{{ cite book |title=Mangrove Guidebook for Southeast Asia |author=Wim Giesen |author2=Stephan Wulffraat |author3=Max Zieren |author4=Liesbeth Scholten |chapter=Part 2: Description - Trees & shrubs |publisher=FAO, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific; Wetlands International |year=2006 |isbn=974-7946-85-8 |location=Bangkok, Thailand |url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ag132e/ag132e00.htm <!--|accessdate=November 21, 2009-->}}</ref>
<ref name=foc>{{ cite web |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=124331 |title=''Pemphis'' |work=Flora of China (English edition) |editor1=Wu Zheng-yi<!-- xct nm --> |editor2=P. H. Raven<!-- xct nm --> |year=1994 |accessdate=November 21, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name=gm>{{ cite web |url=http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=6491 |title=''Pemphis acidula'' |author=McCormack, Gerald |year=2007 |work=Cook Islands Biodiversity Database. Vers. 2007.2|publisher=Cook Islands National Heritage Trust |location=Bishop Museum, Rarotonga|accessdate=November 21, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name=ipni1>{{ cite web |url=http://www.ipni.org:80/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=77775-3 |title=Plant name details for ''Pemphis'' |work=IPNI |accessdate=November 21, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name=ipni2>''Char. Gen. Pl.'' 34. 1775 {{ cite web |url=http://www.ipni.org:80/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=554064-1 |title=Plant Name Details for ''Pemphis acidula'' |work=IPNI |accessdate=November 21, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name=phn>{{ cite web |url=http://www.pnh.com.ph/category/7-Philippine-Endangered-Species/41-Kabantigi-page-1.html |title=Kabantigi |date=May 1, 2005|work=Herbarium Digital Library |publisher=Philippines National Herbarium |accessdate=November 21, 2009}}</ref>
}}
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Category:Lythraceae genera Category:Plants used in bonsai Category:Lythraceae Category:Monotypic Myrtales genera