Euclea Explained

Euclea, from the Greek eukleia meaning "glory and fame",^[1] denotes a group of flowering plants in the Ebenaceae or ebony family. They were described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1774.^{[2] [3]} The genus includes evergreen trees and shrubs, native to Africa, the Comoro Islands and Arabia.^[4] Several species are used for timber, producing a hard, dark heartwood timber similar to ebony.

Species

There are some 16 to 18 species, including:^{[4] [5]}

• Euclea acutifolia E.Mey. ex A.DC. – Cape Province
• Euclea angolensis Gürke – Angola
• Euclea asperrima E.Holzh. – Namibia
• Euclea balfourii Hiern ex Balf.f.
• Euclea coriacea A.DC. – Lesotho, South Africa
• Euclea crispa (Thunb.) Gürke – southern Africa
• Euclea dewinteri Retief – Limpopo
• Euclea divinorum Hiern – from Ethiopia to KwaZulu-Natal
• Euclea lancea Thunb. – Cape Province
• Euclea laurina Hiern ex Balf.f.
• Euclea natalensis A.DC. – from Somalia to KwaZulu-Natal
• Euclea neghellensis Cufod. – Ethiopia
• Euclea polyandra (L.f.) E.Mey. ex Hiern – Cape Province
• Euclea pseudebenus E.Mey. ex A.DC. – Angola, Namibia, Cape Province
• Euclea racemosa L. – from Egypt to Cape Province; Comoros, Oman, Yemen
• Euclea sekhukhuniensis Retief, S.J.Siebert & A.E.van Wyk – Mpumalanga
• Euclea tomentosa E.Mey. ex A.DC. – Cape Province
• Euclea undulata Thunb. – from Zimbabwe to KwaZulu-Natal

Notes and References

1. Web site: Stoll . Nicolette . Euclea crispa (Thunb.) Gürke subsp. crispa . August 2010 . PlantZAfrica.com . SANBI . 28 October 2015 . 2 August 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160802041931/http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantefg/eucleacrispacrispa.htm . dead .
2. Linnaeus, Carl von. 1774. Systema Vegetabilium. Editio decima tertia 747
3. http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40006639 Tropicos, Euclea L
4. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=385282 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
5. Web site: Euclea . The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1 . 28 October 2015.