4299.000 Phyllanthus L.

Description of the genus

Monoecious or dioecious herbs, shrubs or trees. Leaves often of two types: scale-like cataphylls and foliage leaves. Foliage leaves alternate, often distichous, stipulate, simple, usually entire. Flowers small, axillary, the males usually in pairs or in fascicles in the axils of the lower half of the flowering shoots (which often resemble pinnate leaves), the females usually solitary in the upper axils. Male flowers: pedicels often capillary, sepals (4-)5-6, ± equal, imbricate; petals 0; disk glands (4-)5-6; stamens 2-6; pistillode 0. Female flowers: pedicels more robust than in the male flowers; sepals as for males but often larger; petals 0; disk flat or cup-shaped, annular and entire or variously toothed, rarely composed of separate glands; ovary usually 3(-many)-locular; ovules 2 per loculus; styles 3, rarely more. Fruit 3(-many)-locular, dry and dehiscent or fleshy and ± indehiscent. Seeds 2 per loculus, without a fleshy, outer coating.

Worldwide: c.600 species in tropical and warm regions

Zimbabwe: 2 cultivated taxa.

No image of a cultivated species but there is an image of a native or naturalised species

Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
emblica L.
inflatus Hutch.Description

Other sources of information about Phyllanthus:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Phyllanthus
Flora of Caprivi: Phyllanthus
Flora of Caprivi: cultivated Phyllanthus
Flora of Malawi: Phyllanthus
Flora of Mozambique: Phyllanthus
Flora of Zambia: Phyllanthus
Flora of Zimbabwe: Phyllanthus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Phyllanthus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Phyllanthus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Phyllanthus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Phyllanthus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Phyllanthus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Phyllanthus
JSTOR Plant Science: Phyllanthus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Phyllanthus
Plants of the World Online: Phyllanthus
Tropicos: Phyllanthus
Wikipedia: Phyllanthus

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants: genus page: Phyllanthus.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/genus.php?genus_id=833, retrieved 29 March 2024

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