Biology:Meryta

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Short description: Genus of plants

Meryta
Merytasinclairii01.jpg
Meryta sinclairii from New Zealand
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Araliaceae
Subfamily: Aralioideae
Genus: Meryta
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.[1]
Type species
Meryta lanceolata
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.[1]
Species
Synonyms
  • Botryodendrum Endl.
  • Botryomeryta R.Vig.
  • Schizomeryta R.Vig.
  • Strobilopanax R.Vig.

Meryta is a genus in the flowering plant family Araliaceae. There are 28 described species in the genus and a number of undescribed species,[2] all small, resinous trees of the subtropical and tropical Pacific Ocean, characterized by huge, simple leaves and a dioecious sexual system, a unique combination in Araliaceae. Meryta has its center of diversity in New Caledonia (11 endemic spp.). Phylogenetic analyses have placed Meryta as a monophyletic genus in one of the three major clades of the Araliaciae, the Polyscias-Pseudopanax group, and more specifically in the Pacific Schefflera subclade.[3]

Cultivation

Cultivation of Meryta species is possible in tropical or subtropical climates. They are valued for their dramatic foliage and tolerance of coastal conditions. Species encountered in cultivation include M. denhamii and M. sonchifolia, native to New Caledonia, M. latifolia, native to Norfolk Island, and the New Zealand species Meryta sinclairii.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Johann Reinhold Forster; Georg Forster (1776). "plate 60". Characteres generum plantarum, quas in itinere ad insulas maris Australis: collegerunt, descripserunt, delinearunt, annis 1772-1775. London: B. White, T. Cadell, and P. Elmsly. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/23365#page/232/mode/1up. 
  2. Tronchet, F. and Lowry, P. P. (2011). "A new species of Meryta (Araliaceae) from the Marquesas Archipelago, French Polynesia". PhytoKeys (4): 149–156. doi:10.3897/phytokeys.4.1408. PMID 22171187. PMC 3174441. https://phytokeys.pensoft.net/article/1369/. 
  3. Tronchet, F., Plunkett, G.M., Jérémie, J., and Lowry, P. P. (2005). "Monophyly and major clades of Meryta (Araliaceae)". Systematic Botany 30 (3): 657–670. doi:10.1600/0363644054782279. 

External links

Foliage of the New Caledonian species Meryta denhamii

Wikidata ☰ Q2598732 entry