Gnetum

Gnetum
Gnetum macrostachyum in Thailand
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Gnetophyta
Class:Gnetopsida
Order:Gnetales
T.M.Fries
Family:Gnetaceae
Lindley
Genus:Gnetum
L.
Map showing the range of Gnetum
Distribution
Synonyms[1]
  • Gnemon Rumph. ex Kuntze
  • Thoa Aubl.
  • Abutua Lour.
  • Arthostema Neck.

Gnetum is a genus of gymnosperms, the sole genus in the family Gnetaceae and order Gnetales. They are tropical evergreen trees, shrubs and lianas. Unlike other gymnosperms, they possess vessel elements in the xylem. Some species have been proposed to have been the first plants to be insect-pollinated as their fossils occur in association with extinct pollinating scorpionflies.[2] Molecular phylogenies based on nuclear and plastid sequences from most of the species indicate hybridization among some of the Southeast Asian species. Fossil-calibrated molecular-clocks suggest that the Gnetum lineages now found in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia are the result of ancient long-distance dispersal across seawater.[3][4]

Species

  • Gnetum sect. Gnetum
  • Gnetum sect. Scandentia - about 20 species of lianas; southern Asia
    • Gnetum subsect. Stipitati
    • Gnetum subsect. Sessiles
      • Gnetum acutum - Sarawak
      • Gnetum bosavicum - Papua New Guinea
      • Gnetum catasphaericum - southern China
      • Gnetum cuspidatum - Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines
      • Gnetum diminutum - Borneo
      • Gnetum formosum - Vietnam
      • Gnetum giganteum - Guangxi in China
      • Gnetum globosum - Pahang in Malaysia
      • Gnetum gnemonoides - New Guinea, Bismarck Archipelago, Indonesia, Philippines
      • Gnetum hainanense - southern China
      • Gnetum klossii - Sabah
      • Gnetum leptostachyum - Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo
      • Gnetum loerzingii - Sumatra
      • Gnetum luofuense - Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi
      • Gnetum macrostachyum - Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Guinea
      • Gnetum microcarpum - Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra
      • Gnetum neglectum - Borneo
      • Gnetum oxycarpum - Sumatra
      • Gnetum parvifolium - Laos, Vietnam, southern China
      • Gnetum raya - Borneo
      • Gnetum ridleyi - Peninsular Malaysia

Uses

Many Gnetum species are edible, with the seeds being roasted, and the foliage used as a leaf vegetable.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ↑ Ren D, Labandeira CC, Santiago-Blay JA, Rasnitsyn A, Shih CK, Bashkuev A, Logan MA, Hotton CL, Dilcher D. (2009). Probable Pollination Mode Before Angiosperms: Eurasian, Long-Proboscid Scorpionflies. Science, 326 (5954), 840-847. doi:10.1126/science.1178338
  3. ↑ Won H, Renner SS: The internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA in the gymnosperm Gnetum. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 2005, 36:581-597. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.03.011
  4. ↑ Won, H., and S. S. Renner. 2006. Dating dispersal and radiation in the gymnosperm Gnetum (Gnetales) – clock calibration when outgroup relationships are uncertain. Systematic Biology 55(4): 610-622. doi:10.1080/10635150600812619
  5. ↑ Hoe, V.B. and Siong, K.H., "The Nutritional Value of Indigenous Fruits and Vegetables in Sarawak,"Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 8, no. 1, 1998, pp 24-31
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.