Acronychia is a genus of about fifty species of plants in the rue family Rutaceae. The leaves are simple or pinnate, and the flowers bisexual with four sepals, four petals and eight stamens. They have a broad distribution including in India, Malesia, Australia and the islands of the western Pacific Ocean. About twenty species are endemic to Australia.

Acronychia
Acronychia pedunculata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Rutaceae
Subfamily: Zanthoxyloideae
Genus: Acronychia
J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.[1]
Species

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Synonyms[1]

Description

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Plants in the genus Acronychia are shrubs or trees with simple or trifoliate leaves arranged in opposite pairs and with oil glands in the leaves. The flowers are arranged in leaf axils either singly or in cymes or panicles. The flowers are bisexual, with four sepals, four petals and eight stamens. The petals are free from each other, as are the stamens. The stigma is small, not differentiated from the style, the fruit is a drupe and the seeds are black.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

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The genus Acronychia was first formally described in 1775 by Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster in their book Characteres Generum Plantarum.[4][5] The first species they described, the type was Acronychia laevis.[4]

Some species have common names including the word "aspen", a name also applied to some Northern Hemisphere plants in the genus Populus in the family Salicaceae.[6]

Species list

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The following is a list of species accepted by Plants of the World Online as at June 2020:[7]

Uses

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The best known species of Acronychia is probably A. acidula due to its promotion as a food plant.[8]

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Acronychia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. ^ Duretto, Marco F. "Acronychia". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. ^ Richards, P.G.; Harden, Gwen J. "Genus Acronychia". Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Acronychia". APNI. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  5. ^ Forster, Johann Reinhold; Forster, Georg (1775). Characteres Generum Plantarum. London: Prostant apud B. White, T. Cadell, & P. Elmsly. p. 53. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  6. ^ "technology transfer fact sheet: Populus spp" (PDF). Forest Products Laboratory: R&D USDA. Madison, Wisconsin: United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  7. ^ "Plants of the World Online - Acronychia". Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Acronychia acidula". Australian Native Plants Society (Australia). Retrieved 1 July 2020.