Family:
Phyllanthaceae Martinov

Phyllanthus L.

This genus is accepted, and its native range is Tropics & Subtropics.

[FTEA]

Euphorbiaceae, A. R.-Smith. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1987

Morphology General Habit
Monoecious or dioecious herbs, shrubs or trees of various habit, often with the stems and branches differentiated into 2 or 3 types: orthotropic long shoots of unlimited growth, short shoots of limited growth (brachyblasts) and plagiotropic leafy and/or floriferous short shoots of limited growth resembling pinnate leaves, with or without a simple indumentum, rarely with a dentritic indumentum
Morphology Leaves
Foliage leaves alternate, often distichous, shortly petiolate, stipulate, simple, usually entire, penninerved, the nerves commonly brochidodromous Leaves often of 2 types: scale-like cataphylls on the orthotropic shoots and short shoots (brachyblasts) and foliage leaves on the plagiotropic shoots and also occasionally on the orthotropic shoots
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules of the cataphylls larger and more robust than those of the foliage leaves
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers small, axillary, the males usually geminate or fasciculate in the axils of the lower half of the plagiotropic shoots, the females usually solitary in the upper axils Female flowers: pedicels more robust than in the ♂ flowers; sepals as in the ♂ flowers, but often larger; petals 0; disc hypogynous, thin or thick, flat or cupular, annular and entire or variously lobed or toothed, or rarely composed of separate glands; staminodes rarely present; ovary sessile or stipitate, usually 3 (–many)-locular, with 2 ovules per locule; styles 3, rarely more, free or connate at the base, variously held, bifid or bilobate, the stigmas slender or swollen, usually recurved Male flowers: pedicels often capillary; sepals (4–)5–6, subequal, imbricate; petals 0; disc-glands (4–)5–6, free, alternating with the sepals, or rarely disc annular; stamens 2–6, filaments free or some or all united, either partially or completely, anthers basifixed, extrorse, variously held, the thecae parallel or convergent, longitudinally, obliquely, laterally or apically dehiscent; pistillode 0
sex Male
Male flowers: pedicels often capillary; sepals (4–)5–6, subequal, imbricate; petals 0; disc-glands (4–)5–6, free, alternating with the sepals, or rarely disc annular; stamens 2–6, filaments free or some or all united, either partially or completely, anthers basifixed, extrorse, variously held, the thecae parallel or convergent, longitudinally, obliquely, laterally or apically dehiscent; pistillode 0
sex Female
Female flowers: pedicels more robust than in the ♂ flowers; sepals as in the ♂ flowers, but often larger; petals 0; disc hypogynous, thin or thick, flat or cupular, annular and entire or variously lobed or toothed, or rarely composed of separate glands; staminodes rarely present; ovary sessile or stipitate, usually 3 (–many)-locular, with 2 ovules per locule; styles 3, rarely more, free or connate at the base, variously held, bifid or bilobate, the stigmas slender or swollen, usually recurved
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits 3– or rarely more celled, dry and septicidally and loculicidally dehiscent or else fleshy and subindehiscent; endocarp usually crustaceous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 2 per locule, usually segmentiform, triquetrous, rarely compressed-ovoid or ovoid, dorsally convex, verruculose, tuberculate, lineate, ridged or smooth, ecarunculate; testa usually thinly crustaceous; albumen fleshy; embryo straight or slightly incurved; cotyledons flat, straight or rarely flexuous
Figures
Fig. 2.

[FZ]

Euphorbiaceae, A. Radcliffe-Smith. Flora Zambesiaca 9:4. 1996

Morphology General Habit
Monoecious or dioecious herbs, shrubs or trees of various habit, often with the shoots differentiated into 2 or 3 types: long lead shoots of unlimited growth (orthotropic shoots), short lateral shoots of potentially unlimited growth (brachyblasts) and leafy or floriferous lateral shoots of limited growth (plagiotropic shoots) which may resemble pinnate leaves or pseudoracemose inflorescences (see Tab. 8).
Morphology General Indumentum
Indumentum simple, rarely dendritic (Asia).
Morphology Leaves
Leaves often scale-like (cataphylls) on the lead shoots and short shoots, normal (trophophylls) on the lateral leafy shoots and occasionally also on the lead shoots. Foliage leaves alternate, often distichous, shortly petiolate, stipulate, simple, entire, penninerved, the nerves usually looped.
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules of the scale leaves larger than those of the foliage leaves.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers small, axillary; male flowers geminate or fasciculate, usually in the lower axils of the lateral shoots; female flowers solitary in the upper axils, or male and female flowers on leafless lateral shoots, often pendent. Male flowers: pedicels often capillary; sepals (4)5–6, subequal, imbricate; petals absent; disk glands (4)5–6, free, alternisepalous, or rarely disk annular (P.pinnatus); stamens 2–6, filaments free or some or all partially or completely united, anthers basifixed, extrorse, variously held and dehiscent, thecae parallel or convergent; pistillode absent. Female flowers: pedicels more robust than in male flowers; sepals larger than but otherwise as in male; petals absent; disk hypogynous, annular, entire or lobed, rarely the glands distinct (e.g. P. maderaspatensis); staminodes rarely present; ovary sessile or stipitate, 3(∞)-locular, ovules 2 per locule; styles 3(∞), free or united at the base, variously held, bifid or 2-lobed, rarely simple (P. ovalifolius), the stigmas usually recurved.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits 3(∞)-celled, dry and septicidally and loculicidally dehiscent or fleshy and subindehiscent; endocarp usually crustaceous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 2 per locule, usually segmentiform, triquetrous and dorsally convex, rarely ovoid (e.g. P. inflatus), tuberculate, ridged, lineate or smooth, ecarunculate; testa usually thinly crustaceous; albumen fleshy; embryo straight or slightly curved; cotyledons flat, straight or rarely flexuous.

[FSOM]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Trees, shrubs (sometimes ± scandent) or herbs; hairs, when present, simple
Morphology Stem
Stems usually differentiated into up to 4 types: 1) main (“orthotropic”) shoots of unlimited growth, usually erect, often with stipule-like scale-leaves (“cataphylls”) smaller than the associated stipules; 2) short-shoots (“brachyblasts”) with very short internodes and scale-leaves; 3) lateral (“plagiotropic”) leafy shoots of limited growth, the leaves often strictly in one plane so that they resemble pinnate leaves; 4) (rare) specialised flowering shoots with reduced leaves
Morphology Leaves
Leaves alternate, entire; petiole short, rarely exceeding 2 mm; stipules usually scarious, sometimes indurated and spine-like
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Dioecious or monoecious, flowers axillary, minute, pendent; male 2–several per axil, female usually solitary, occasionally together with male
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Female flowers usually larger; perianth as in male; disc usually annular, rarely of free glands; ovary 3(–8)-celled, ovules 2 per cell, styles bifid usually with recurved stigmas Male flowers: sepals (4–)5–6, over­lapping; petals absent; disc of free glands alternating with sepals, rarely annular; stamens 2–6, filaments often united into column; pistillode absent
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule usually dry and breaking up, occasionally berry-like with juicy outer layer
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 2 per cell, usually 3-sided and the shape of a segment of a citrus fruit, less often subovoid, caruncle absent.
Distribution
A large pantropical genus of over 1000 species, about 280 species in Africa.
Note
Some species – usually small, often weedy, ephemerals – can only be reliably distinguished by careful examination of the minute flowers. These species are all undercollected within Somalia and the status of some of the taxa recognised in this account needs further study based on more material than is currently available.

Native to:

Alabama, Aldabra, Andaman Is., Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Aruba, Ascension, Assam, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Bolivia, Borneo, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Caprivi Strip, Caroline Is., Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Chad, Chile North, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Colorado, Comoros, Congo, Cook Is., Costa Rica, Cuba, Delaware, District of Columbia, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Himalaya, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Florida, Free State, French Guiana, Gabon, Galápagos, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Gulf States, Guyana, Hainan, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Illinois, India, Indiana, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jawa, Kansas, Kentucky, Kenya, Khabarovsk, Korea, KwaZulu-Natal, Laccadive Is., Laos, Leeward Is., Lesotho, Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Louisiana, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Maldives, Mali, Maluku, Manchuria, Marianas, Marquesas, Maryland, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Mississippi, Missouri, Mongolia, Mozambique, Mozambique Channel I, Myanmar, Namibia, Nansei-shoto, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Guinea, New Jersey, New Mexico, New South Wales, Nicaragua, Nicobar Is., Niger, Nigeria, Niue, North Carolina, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Ogasawara-shoto, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oman, Pakistan, Panamá, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Peru, Philippines, Primorye, Puerto Rico, Queensland, Rodrigues, Rwanda, Réunion, Samoa, Santa Cruz Is., Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Society Is., Socotra, Solomon Is., Somalia, South Australia, South Carolina, South China Sea, Southwest Caribbean, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Suriname, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Turks-Caicos Is., Uganda, Uruguay, Utah, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Victoria, Vietnam, Virginia, Wallis-Futuna Is., West Himalaya, West Virginia, Western Australia, Windward Is., Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe

Introduced into:

Azores, Bermuda, Canary Is., Central American Pac, Chagos Archipelago, Christmas I., Cocos (Keeling) Is., Gilbert Is., Howland-Baker Is., Iran, Kazan-retto, Line Is., Madeira, Marshall Is., New York, Norfolk Is., Palestine, Phoenix Is., Sicilia, Tokelau-Manihiki, Tuvalu, Wake I.

Phyllanthus L. appears in other Kew resources:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Oct 1, 2010 Hepper, F.N. [1986], Cameroon K000180724 No
Coode, M. [4371], Mauritius 35408.000 No
Harris, D,J, [1437], Central African Republic 63375.000 No
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. s.n.], Myanmar K001132534 Yes
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. s.n.], Myanmar K001132537 Yes
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. s.n.], Singapore K001132546 Yes
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. s.n.], Myanmar K001132547 Yes
Russell, P. [Cat. no. s.n.], Indian Subcontinent K001132541 Yes
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. s.n.], Myanmar K001132543 Yes
Ejiofor, M.C. [29343], Cameroon K000180701 No
Russell, P. [Cat. no. s.n.], Indian Subcontinent K001132545 Yes
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. s.n.], Myanmar K001132539 Yes
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. s.n.], Uttar Pradesh K001132533 Yes
Russell, P. [Cat. no. s.n.], Indian Subcontinent K001132542 Yes
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. s.n.], Myanmar K001132538 Yes
Russell, P. [Cat. no. s.n.], Indian Subcontinent K001132544 Yes
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. s.n.], Myanmar K001132540 Yes

First published in Sp. Pl.: 981 (1753)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Literature

Flora of West Tropical Africa

  • Pax & K. Hoffm. in E. & P. Pflanzenfam. 19C: 60 (1931).
  • —F.T.A. 6, 1: 692

Flora Zambesiaca

  • Gen. Pl., ed. 5: 422 (1754).
  • Müller Argoviensis in De Candolle, Prodr. 15, 2: 274 (1866).
  • Sp. Pl.: 981 (1753)

Flora of Somalia

  • Flora Somalia, Vol 1, (1993) Author: by M. G. Gilbert [updated by M. Thulin 2008]

Flora of Tropical East Africa

  • G.P. 3(1): 272 (1880)
  • Gen Pl., ed. 5: 422 (1754)
  • Hutch. in F.T.A. 6(1): 692 (1912)
  • Muell. Arg. in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 274 (1866)
  • Sp. Pl.: 981 (1753)

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