Breynia assimilis is an extremely rare species of flowering plant in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is a shrub or tree endemic to the wet evergreen lowland forests of southwestern Sri Lanka. It is only known from the Sinharaja Biosphere Reserve there, evidence of its existence was last catalogued before 1991 (in a survey held between 1991 and 1996 by the National Conservation Review of Sri Lanka), and it has not been found since then. It may since have become extinct.[1]
| Breynia assimilis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Phyllanthaceae |
| Genus: | Breynia |
| Species: | B. assimilis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Breynia assimilis | |
| Synonyms[3] | |
The species was first collected for scientific examination and classification from Allagalla,[4] in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, at an elevation of 3,000 feet (910 m), by botanist George Henry Kendrick Thwaites, who named it Sauropus assimilis.[2] This high elevation, when compared with where it has been found more recently, would seem to indicate that the historic range of B. assimilis is much broader than it stands today. Thwaites described and published this species for the first time in 1861.[2] The specific epithet "assimilis" is Latin, meaning "like" or "similar to": in Thwaites text,[4] he indicates that the overall appearance of B. assimilis is similar to that of Sauropus gardnerianus, now considered a synonym of B. androgyna.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1998). "Sauropus assimilis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1998: e.T32550A9714815. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1998.RLTS.T32550A9714815.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ a b c Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniae 284. 1861. "Name - Sauropus assimilis Thwaites". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ^ Breynia assimilis (Thwaites) Chakrab. & N.P.Balakr. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ a b Original text by Thwaites. 1864. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ^ "TPL, treatment of Sauropus gardneriana". The Plant List; Version 1. (published on the internet). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden. 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2012.