Micropholis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:For multi Template:Automatic taxobox

Micropholis is genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae, described in 1891.[1][2][3]

These trees are native to tropical South America, Mesoamerica, and the West Indies.[4] Most are locally known as "cafetos", literally meaning "coffee plants". But while both Micropholis and the coffeeplant genus Coffea are asterids, the present genus is part of the Ericales – a quite basal asterid lineage –, while Coffea belongs to the more advanced Gentianales.

They are valued for their wood, which is used as timber, for construction and as firewood; many species are threatened by overexploitation and habitat destruction. Also, they are often used as part of catuaba, a decoction from various tree's bark claimed to have aphrodisiac and stimulant properties.

Caimitillo verde (M. garciniifolia) is an important food source of the nearly-extinct Puerto Rican amazon bird (Amazona vittata).

Species

41 species are accepted.[5] Script error: No such module "Template wrapper".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

References

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. Pierre, Jean Baptiste Louis. 1891. Notes Botaniques: Sapotacées 2: 37–38
  2. Tropicos, Micropholis (Griseb.) Pierre
  3. <templatestyles src="smallcaps/styles.css"/>Govaerts, R.; Harvey, Y.; Jessup, L.; Pennington, T.D. & Vink, W. (2001): World Checklist of Sapotaceae – Micropholis. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2008-DEC-24.
  4. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  5. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Template:Taxonbar

Template:Asbox