Leidesia is a monotypic plant genus in the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1866.[2][3] The sole species is Leidesia procumbens. The species is widespread in Southern Africa as far north as Democratic Republic of the Congo.[1]

Leidesia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Acalyphoideae
Tribe: Acalypheae
Subtribe: Mercurialinae
Genus: Leidesia
Mull. Arg.
Species:
L. procumbens
Binomial name
Leidesia procumbens
(L.) Prain
Synonyms[1]
  • Mercurialis procumbens L.
  • Paradenocline procumbens (L.) Müll.Arg.
  • Adenocline procumbens (L.) Druce
  • Croton ricinocarpus L.
  • Croton ricinokarpos Houtt.
  • Mercurialis androgyna Steud.
  • Acalypha obtusa Thunb.
  • Mercurialis tricocca Eckl. & Zeyh. ex Krauss
  • Mercurialis capensis (L.f.) Spreng. ex Sond.
  • Leidesia capensis (L.f.) Müll.Arg.
  • Leidesia obtusa (Thunb.) Müll.Arg.
  • Leidesia sonderiana Müll.Arg.
  • Leidesia procumbens var. obtusa (Thunb.) Pax & K.Hoffm.

The genus name of Leidesia is in honour of Carl Friedrich Seidel (d. 1898), a German painter and botanist, and/or Jacob Friedrich Seidel (1789–1860), a German gardener, and/or Johann Heinrich Seidel (1744–1815), a German court gardener.[4]

Species formerly included,[1]

moved to Seidelia

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ^ Müller Argoviensis, Johannes (Jean). 1866. Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 15(2): 792 in Latin
  3. ^ Tropicos, genus Leidesia
  4. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2018). Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition [Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2018. ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5. Retrieved 1 January 2021.