Griselinia

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Apiales

Familia: Griseliniaceae
Genus: Griselinia
Species (7 accepted): G. carlomunozii – G. jodinifolia – G. littoralis – G. lucida – G. racemosa – G. ruscifolia – G. scandens
Source(s) of checklist:
Name

Griselinia G.Forst., 1786

Homonyms

Griselinia Scop. = Pterocarpus Jacq.

Synonyms

Decostea Ruiz & Pav., Prod. 130 (1794)
Pukateria Raoul, Ann. Sc. Nat. Ser. III. 2: 120 (1844)
Scopolia J.R.Forst. & G.Forst., Char. Gen. Pl., ed.1: 70 (1775) non Jacq. (1764)

References
Primary references

Forster, J.G.A. 1786. Fl. Ins. Austr.: 75

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Griselinia in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Sep 22. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. Sep 22. Griselinia. Published online. Accessed: {{{3}}} Sep 22.
Tropicos.org 2021. Griselinia. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Sep 22.
Hassler, M. 2021. Griselinia – World Ferns: Checklist of Ferns and Lycophytes of the World . In: Roskov Y., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi J. & Penev L. (eds.) 2021. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Sep 22.

Vernacular names

Griselinia is a genus of seven species of shrubs and trees, with a highly disjunct distribution native to New Zealand and South America. It is a classic example of the Antarctic flora. It is the sole genus in the family Griseliniaceae; in the past it was often placed in Cornaceae but differs from that in many features.

Description

Small dioecious trees or shrubs up to 20 m with erect branches, or shrubs up to 2 m with climbing or scandent branches. The leaves are evergreen, thick and leathery, smooth and glossy above, often paler below. The flowers are very small, with five sepals and stamens and a single stigma, borne on terminal or axillary racemes or panicles. Petals 2–3 mm long. However, the female flower of G.lucida has no petals. The fruit is a small red or purple oval berry 5–10 mm long.[2]
Chemical characteristics

Petroselinic acid occurs as the major fatty acid in the species, indicating a relationship to the Apiaceae and the Araliaceae.[3] Recent genetic evidence from the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that Griselinia is correctly placed in the Apiales.[4]
New Zealand species

The two New Zealand species are large shrubs or trees, from 4–20 m (13–66 ft) tall. Both trees can be epiphytic or hemiepiphytic. The young tree often colonizes amongst other epiphytes like Collospermum and Astelia high in the forest canopy, before growing aerial roots down the trunk of its host. Upon contact with the ground the roots can become large – up to 25 cm (10 in) thick, and are easily identified for their heavy lengthwise corrugations. G. lucida seldom becomes a freestanding tree if having begun life epiphytically, and can often be seen to have collapsed where the host has died. Epiphytic growth in G. littoralis is less common but does occur in wetter climates.

The vernacular names are of Māori origin.

G. littoralis – Kapuka; leaves 6 cm (2 in) long.
G. lucida – Puka, akapuka, shining broadleaf; differs from G. littoralis in larger leaves, to 12 cm (5 in) long.

South American species

The five South American species are smaller shrubs, 1–5 m tall. All are known as Yelmo.

G. carlomunozii – coastal northern Chile (Antofagasta)
G. jodinifolia – Chile
G. racemosa – southern Chile (Los Lagos, Aisén) and adjacent Argentina (western Chubut)
G. ruscifolia – Argentina, Chile, southeast Brazil
G. scandens – central and southern Chile

References

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2016). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 181 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1111/boj.12385.
Dillon, M.O. (2018). "Griseliniaceae". In Kadereit, J.W.; Bittrich, V. (eds.). Flowering Plants: Eudicots: Apiales, Gentianales (except Rubiaceae). The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. XV. pp. 505–509. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93605-5.
B. Breuer; T. Stuhlfauth; H. Fock; H. Huber (1987). "Fatty acids of some cornaceae, hydrangeaceae, aquifoliaceae, hamamelidaceae and styracaceae". Phytochemistry. 26 (5): 1441–1445. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(00)81830-0.
Maas, P.J.M. & Maas-van de Kamer, H. (2012). Neotropical Griseliniaceae. In: Milliken, W., Klitgård, B. & Baracat, A. (2009 onwards), Neotropikey - Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics. [1]