Polyalthia Explained

Polyalthia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. There are approximately 90 species distributed from Africa to Asia and the Pacific.^[1]

These are trees and shrubs. The flower has six petals in two whorls, the inner petals curving inward over the centre.^[1]

The name Polyalthia is derived from a combination of Greek words meaning 'many cures' with reference to the medicinal properties of certain species.^[2]

Species

This large genus was known to be polyphyletic, with many species having been separated and reassigned to other genera.^{[3] [4]} Species have also been transferred into this genus (e.g. P. malabarica from Phaeanthus).

Plants of the World Online^[5] currently includes the following as accepted:

1. Polyalthia angustissima Ridl.
2. Polyalthia barenensis Bân
3. Polyalthia borneensis Merr.
4. Polyalthia bracteosa Bân
5. Polyalthia bromantha I.M.Turner
6. Polyalthia brunneifolia J.Sinclair
7. Polyalthia bullata King
8. Polyalthia castanea Ridl.
9. Polyalthia cauliflora Hook.f. & Thomson
10. Polyalthia celebica Miq.
11. Polyalthia charitopoda I.M.Turner
12. Polyalthia chinii I.M.Turner & Utteridge
13. Polyalthia chrysotricha Ridl.
14. Polyalthia cinnamomea Hook.f. & Thomson
15. Polyalthia clemensiorum Jovet-Ast
16. Polyalthia consanguinea Merr.
17. Polyalthia corticosa (Pierre) Finet & Gagnep.
18. Polyalthia debilis (Pierre) Finet & Gagnep.
19. Polyalthia dictyoneura Diels
20. Polyalthia dolichopoda I.M.Turner
21. Polyalthia dumosa King
22. Polyalthia elegans K.Schum. & Lauterb.
23. Polyalthia elliptica (Blume) Blume
24. Polyalthia endertii D.M.Johnson
25. Polyalthia evecta (Pierre) Finet & Gagnep.
26. Polyalthia flagellaris (Becc.) Airy Shaw
27. Polyalthia fruticosa (Jessup) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
28. Polyalthia gamopetala Boerl. ex Koord.-Schum.
29. Polyalthia gracilicolumnaris H.Okada, Tsukaya & Suleiman
30. Polyalthia gracilipes Merr.
31. Polyalthia guabatuensis I.M.Turner & Utteridge
32. Polyalthia guamusangensis I.M.Turner & Utteridge
33. Polyalthia heteropetala (Diels) Ghesq.
34. Polyalthia hirtifolia J.Sinclair
35. Polyalthia hispida B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
36. Polyalthia ichthyosma I.M.Turner
37. Polyalthia igniflora D.M.Johnson
38. Polyalthia insignis (Hook.f.) Airy Shaw (synonym Polyalthia elmeri Merr.)
39. Polyalthia intermedia (Pierre) Bân
40. Polyalthia johnsonii (F.Muell.) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
41. Polyalthia kanchanaburiana Khumch. & Thongp.
42. Polyalthia kinabaluensis I.M.Turner
43. Polyalthia lanceolata S.Vidal
44. Polyalthia lancilimba C.Y.Wu ex P.T.Li
45. Polyalthia lasioclada I.M.Turner
46. Polyalthia lateritia J.Sinclair
47. Polyalthia longirostris (Scheff.) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
48. Polyalthia luzonensis B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
49. Polyalthia malabarica (Bedd.) I.M.Turner
50. Polyalthia meghalayensis V.Prakash & Mehrotra
51. Polyalthia microsepala Diels
52. Polyalthia microtus Miq.
53. Polyalthia miliusoides I.M.Turner
54. Polyalthia mindorensis Merr.
55. Polyalthia miniata Teijsm. & Binn.
56. Polyalthia minima Jovet-Ast
57. Polyalthia minutiflora Elmer
58. Polyalthia monocarpioides I.M.Turner
59. Polyalthia montis-silam D.M.Johnson
60. Polyalthia moonii Thwaites
61. Polyalthia motleyana (Hook.f.) Airy Shaw
62. Polyalthia myristica I.M.Turner
63. Polyalthia novoguineensis (H.Okada) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
64. Polyalthia obliqua Hook.f. & Thomson
65. Polyalthia oblonga King
66. Polyalthia pakdin I.M.Turner & Utteridge
67. Polyalthia parviflora Ridl.
68. Polyalthia persicifolia (Hook.f. & Thomson) Bedd.
69. Polyalthia pisocarpa (Hassk.) I.M.Turner
70. Polyalthia polyphlebia Diels
71. Polyalthia praeflorens Bân
72. Polyalthia pumila Ridl.
73. Polyalthia rufescens Hook.f. & Thomson
74. Polyalthia saprosma I.M.Turner
75. Polyalthia sessiliflora (Ast) Bân
76. Polyalthia socia Craib
77. Polyalthia spathulata (Teijsm. & Binn.) Boerl.
78. Polyalthia stellata (Heusden) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
79. Polyalthia stenopetala (Hook.f. & Thomson) Finet & Gagnep.
80. Polyalthia stenophylla I.M.Turner
81. Polyalthia subcordata (Blume) Blume - type species (range: Sumatera to Lesser Sunda Islands)
82. Polyalthia suberosa (Roxb.) Thwaites
83. Polyalthia submontana (Jessup) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
84. Polyalthia sympetala I.M.Turner
85. Polyalthia tipuliflora D.M.Johnson
86. Polyalthia trochilia I.M.Turner
87. Polyalthia venosa Merr.
88. Polyalthia verrucipes C.Y.Wu ex P.T.Li
89. Polyalthia watui K.M.Wong
90. Polyalthia xanthocarpa B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
91. Polyalthia yingjiangensis Y.H.Tan & B.Xue

Reassigned to other genera

According to Plants of the World Online, species have been placed in the following genera:

• Disepalum
  • Polyalthia pingpienensis P.T.Li is a synonym of Disepalum plagioneurum (Diels) D.M.Johnson
• Huberantha Chaowasku
  • Polyalthia cerasoides (Roxb.) Bedd. is a synonym of Huberantha cerasoides (Roxb.) Chaowasku^[6]
  • Polyalthia korinti (Dunal) Benth. & J. Hk. ex J. Hk. & Thoms is a synonym of Huberantha korinti (Dunal) Chaowasku
  • Polyalthia nitidissima is a synonym of Huberantha nitidissima (Dunal) Chaowasku
  • Polyalthia palawanensis Merr. is a synonym of Huberantha palawanensis (Merr.) I.M.Turner
• Meiogyne
  • Polyalthia laddiana A.C.Sm. is a synonym of Meiogyne laddiana (A.C.Sm.) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
• Monoon Miq.
  • Polyalthia coffeoides (Hook.f. & Th.) is a synonym of Monoon coffeoides (Thwaites ex Hook.f. & Thomson) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders^[7]
  • Polyalthia fragrans (Dalz.) Bedd.
  • Polyalthia glabra (Hook.f. & Th.) James Sincl.
  • Polyalthia hookeriana King
  • Polyalthia hypogaea King
  • Polyalthia longifolia (Sonn.) Thwaites is a synonym of Monoon longifolium (Sonn.) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders^[8]
  • Polyalthia pachyphylla King is a synonym of Monoon pachyphyllum (King) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
  • Polyalthia shendurunii Basha & Sasi. is now Monoon shendurunii (Basha & Sasidh.) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
  • Polyalthia simiarum (Buch.-Ham. ex Hook.f. & Thomson) Hook.f. & Thomson is a synonym of Monoon simiarum (Buch.-Ham. ex Hook.f. & Thomson) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders
• Phaeanthus
  • Polyalthia macropoda King is a synonym of Phaeanthus ophthalmicus (Roxb. ex G.Don) J.Sinclair
• Polyalthiopsis Chaowasku
  • Polyalthia floribunda Jovet-Ast is a synonym of Polyalthiopsis floribunda (Jovet-Ast) Chaowasku (Vietnam)
• Wuodendron B.Xue, Y.H.Tan & Chaowasku (monotypic)
  • Polyalthia litseifolia C.Y.Wu ex P.T.Li is a synonym of Wuodendron praecox (Hook.f. & Thomson) B.Xue, Y.H.Tan & X.L.Hou

Notes and References

1. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=126338 Polyalthia.
2. Book: McCann. Charles. 100 Beautiful Trees of India: A Descriptive and Pictorial Handbook. 1959. D.B. Taraporevala Sons & Co. Private Ltd.. 32.
3. Xue, B., Su, Y. C., Mols, J. B., KEßLER, P. J., & Saunders, R. M. (2011). Further fragmentation of the polyphyletic genus Polyalthia (Annonaceae): molecular phylogenetic support for a broader delimitation of Marsypopetalum. Systematics and Biodiversity, 9(1), 17-26.
4. Xue, B., Su, Y. C. F., Thomas, D. C., & Saunders, R. M. K. (2012). Pruning the polyphyletic genus Polyalthia (Annonaceae) and resurrecting the genus Monoon. Taxon, 61(5), 1021-1039.
5. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:2110-1 Plants of the World Online (POWO): Polyalthia Blume (retrieved 3 April 2020)
6. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77146148-1 Plants of the World Online (POWO): Huberantha cerasoides (Roxb.) Chaowasku (retrieved 4 April 2020)
7. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77122997-1 Plants of the World Online (POWO): Monoon coffeoides (Thwaites ex Hook.f. & Thomson) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders (retrieved 4 April 2020)
8. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77123022-1 Plants of the World Online (POWO): Monoon longifolium (Sonn.) B.Xue & R.M.K.Saunders (retrieved 4 April 2020)