Eriolaena Explained

Eriolaena is a genus of flowering plants. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included now in the recently expanded Malvaceae.^[1] The genus is distributed in Asia and eastern Africa, from southern China through Indochina to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and coastal Mozambique.^{[2] [3]}

These plants are trees or shrubs. They usually have single or paired white or yellow flowers, but some species have larger inflorescences. The fruit is a hard capsule with winged seeds.^[2] The winged seeds make the genus distinctive in its family.^[4]

The former Madagascan genera Helmiopsiella and Helmiopsis are now considered synonyms of Eriolaena. These genera were named in honour of C. Helm, German clergyman in Berlin and amateur botanist.^[5]

Species

27 species are currently accepted.

• Eriolaena barnettiae – Madagascar
• Eriolaena bernieri – northern Madagascar
• Eriolaena boivinii – northwestern Madagascar
• Eriolaena calcicola – northwestern Madagascar
• Eriolaena candollei Wall. – India and Bangladesh, Indochina, southern China
• Eriolaena cheekii – Madagascar
• Eriolaena ctenostegia – western Madagascar
• Eriolaena glaberrima – northern Madagascar
• Eriolaena hily – southwestern and southern Madagascar
• Eriolaena hookeriana Wight & Arn. – India and Sri Lanka
• Eriolaena leandrii – Madagascar
• Eriolaena linearifolia – northern Madagascar
• Eriolaena lushingtonii Dunn – Eastern Ghats (southern India)
• Eriolaena madagascariensis – Madagascar
• Eriolaena margaritae – Madagascar
• Eriolaena parvifolia – southwestern Madagascar
• Eriolaena poissonii – northwestern Madagascar
• Eriolaena polyandra – northern Madagascar
• Eriolaena pseudopopulus – northern Madagascar
• Eriolaena quinquelocularis (Wight & Arn.) Drury – India and Yunnan (China)
• Eriolaena richardii – northern Madagascar
• Eriolaena rigida – Madagascar
• Eriolaena rulkensii Dorr – northern Mozambique
• Eriolaena spectabilis (DC.) Planch. ex Mast. – Himalayas (India, Nepal, Bhutan), northern Myanmar, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi (China)
• Eriolaena sphaerocarpa – northern Madagascar
• Eriolaena stocksii – western and northeastern India
• Eriolaena wallichii DC. – Nepal, Arunachal Pradesh (India), northern Myanmar, Yunnan (China)

Notes and References

1. Hinsley, S. R. (2007). Synonymy of Malvaceae.
2. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=112048 Eriolaena.
3. Dorr LJ, Wurdack KJ (2018) A new disjunct species of Eriolaena (Malvaceae, Dombeyoideae) from Continental Africa.
4. http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Eriolaena/Eriolaena.php The Eriolaena Page.
5. Book: Burkhardt, Lotte . Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition . Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition . Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin . 2018 . 978-3-946292-26-5 . pdf . German . Berlin . 10.3372/epolist2018 . 187926901 . 1 January 2021.