Simplokos ( lat. Symplocos ) is a typical genus of flowering plants of the family Simplokovye ( Symplocaceae ) of the order of heather ( Ericales ). Sometimes it is considered the only genus in its family.
| Simplokos | |||||||||||||||||||
 Flowers Symplocos cochinchinensis | |||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | |||||||||||||||||||
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| International Scientific Name | |||||||||||||||||||
Symplocos Jacq. , 1760 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Synonyms | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Typical view | |||||||||||||||||||
Symplocos martinicensis jacq. [2] | |||||||||||||||||||
Content
Spread
The genus includes more than 200 species [3] , widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Australia and America, but absent in Africa. Many species grow in humid tropical biotopes.
Pollen of Symplocos flowers is found in Eocene sediments in Europe.
In China, 42 species grow, of which 18 are endemics [4] .
Botanical description
Species of this genus are represented by evergreen shrubs and trees with white or yellow flowers.
Plain leaf blades with a smooth, serrated or jagged edge. Stipules are absent.
The fruit is a drupe. Seeds with abundant endosperm, with a straight or curved embryo, cotyledons are very short.
Meaning and application
Fruits are actively eaten by many birds. On the slopes of the equatorial Andes, in the thickets of simplokos, whole flocks of turkeys feed on its plum-like fruits. For bats, these fruits are also a favorite delicacy, preferable to the fruits of other plants. Bats and monkeys successfully detect even the bluish-blue fruits of the Symplocos fasciculata imperceptible in the foliage. The leaves of some species have a sweetish aftertaste and are readily eaten by livestock [5] .
Some species are cultivated as ornamental plants. The simplocos paniculata ( Symplocos paniculata ) is especially beautiful, in the spring it dissolves white fragrant flowers, and in the fall it is hung with tassels of blue fruits. Some species are used in medicine, and are also used as dyeing plants. From the roots of simplokosa dyeing ( Symplocos tinctoria ), found in the undergrowth of dense North American forests, receive a yellow dye. In Japan, the leaves of Japanese simplocos ( Symplocos lucida ) are used for this purpose.
In India, red and yellow dyes are extracted from the bark and leaves of the simploid raceme ( Symplocos racemosa ), in addition, the bark of this plant and other closely related species of Hindus can be used as a means of traditional medicine [5] .
Notes
- ↑ About the conditionality of specifying the class of dicotyledons as a higher taxon for the group of plants described in this article, see the section “APG Systems” of the article “Dicotyledons” .
- ↑ Information on the genus Symplocos (English) in the Index Nominum Genericorum database of the International Plant Taxonomy Association (IAPT) .
- ↑ Species of the genus Symplocos according to The Plant List .
- ↑ Flora of China Vol. 15 Page 235
- ↑ 1 2 Takhtadzhyan, 1981 .
Literature
- Takhtadzhyan A. L. Plant life : in 6 t. / Ch. ed. A.L. Tahtajan . - M .: Enlightenment , 1981. - V. 5. Part 2: Flowering plants / ed. A.L. Tahtajyan. - p. 100,101. - 512 s. - 300 000 copies
Links
- Symplocos : information about the taxon in the Plantarium project (a determinant of plants and an illustrated atlas of species).