Rhytidocaulon Explained

Rhytidocaulon is a plant genus in the family Apocynaceae, first described in 1962.^{[1] [2]} It is native to northeastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula

SpeciesSpecies accepted by the Plants of the World Online as of February 2023:^[3]

• Rhytidocaulon arachnoideum
• Rhytidocaulon baricum
• Rhytidocaulon ciliatum
• Rhytidocaulon elegantissimum
• Rhytidocaulon fulleri
• Rhytidocaulon macrolobum
• Rhytidocaulon mccoyi
• Rhytidocaulon molamatarense
• Rhytidocaulon paradoxum - Ethiopia
• Rhytidocaulon piliferum - Somalia
• Rhytidocaulon pseudosubscandens
• Rhytidocaulon richardianum - Somalia
• Rhytidocaulon sheilae
• Rhytidocaulon specksii
• Rhytidocaulon splendidum
• Rhytidocaulon subscandens - Somalia, Ethiopia
• Rhytidocaulon tortum - Arabia

Taxonomy Phylogenetic studies have shown the genus to be monophyletic, and most closely related to the genus Echidnopsis which inhabits the same region. Marginally more distantly related is a sister branch comprising the genus Pseudolithos and the widespread Caralluma stapeliads of North Africa.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Bally, Peter René Oscar. 1962. Candollea 18: 335
2. http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40025650 Tropicos, genus Rhytidocaulon
3. Web site: Rhytidocaulon P.R.O.Bally . 2023 . Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 8 February 2023.
4. P. Bruyns, C. Klak, P. Hanacek: Evolution of the stapeliads (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae) - repeated major radiation across Africa in an Old World group. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 2014. v. 77, no. 1, p. 251--263. ISSN 1055-7903.