Phyllanthus
Genus of flowering plants / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Phyllanthus is the largest genus in the plant family Phyllanthaceae. Estimates of the number of species in this genus vary widely, from 750[2] to 1200.[3] Phyllanthus has a remarkable diversity of growth forms including annual and perennial herbs, shrubs, climbers, floating aquatics, and pachycaulous succulents. Some have flattened leaflike stems called cladodes. It has a wide variety of floral morphologies and chromosome numbers and has one of the widest range of pollen types of any seed plant genus.
Phyllanthus | |
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Phyllanthus mirabilis | |
Phyllanthus fluitans | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Phyllanthaceae |
Subfamily: | Phyllanthoideae |
Tribe: | Phyllantheae |
Genus: | Phyllanthus L. |
Diversity | |
About 800 species | |
Synonyms[1] | |
List
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Despite their variety, almost all Phyllanthus species express a specific type of growth called "phyllanthoid branching" in which the vertical stems bear deciduous, floriferous (flower-bearing), plagiotropic (horizontal or oblique) stems. The leaves on the main (vertical) axes are reduced to scales called "cataphylls", while leaves on the other axes develop normally.[4] Phyllanthus is distributed in all tropical and subtropical regions on Earth.
Phyllanthus was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753,[5][6] but the type was not designated.[5]