Ungeria

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids II
Ordo: Malvales

Familia: Malvaceae
Subfamilia: Helicteroideae
Tribus: Helictereae
Genus: Ungeria
Species: U. floribunda
Name

Ungeria Schott & Endl., Melet. 27. t. 4. (1832)

Type species: Ungeria floribunda Schott & Endl., Melet. 27. t. 4. (1832)

Homonyms

Ungeria Nees ex C.B.Clarke, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 21: 34. (1884) vide Cyperus L., Sp. Pl. 1: 44. (1753) (Cyperaceae)

References

Shott, H.W. & Endlicher, S.F.L. 1832. Melet. 27. t. 4.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Ungeria in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2020 Dec. 28. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Ungeria. Published online. Accessed: Dec. 28 2020.
Tropicos.org 2020. Ungeria. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 28 Dec. 2020.

Ungeria is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae. It just contains one species, Ungeria floribunda Schott & Endl.[1] It is also in the Helicteroideae subfamily and Helictereae tribe.[2]

Its native range is Norfolk Island (in the Pacific Ocean near Australia).[1] It is found in Mount Pitt Nature Reserve (part of Norfolk Island National Park).[3]
Description

It is a tree that can grow up to 15 m (49 ft) tall.[4] It has leaves which are broadly elliptic or obovate and evergreen.[5] The leaf blades are about 6–12 cm (2–5 in) long and 4–8 cm (2–3 in) wide.[3] It has deep pink flowers.[5] The flowers each have five deep pink petals 16–20 mm (1–1 in) long and it thought to be pollinated by birds. The fruits are 5 lobed and star-shapped in cross-section.[3]

Moths of Austrocarea iocephala subspecies millsi can be found on the tree.[6]

It is related (dna wise) to the Durian.[3]
Taxonomy

It has the common name of 'Bastard Oak', (due to the inferior quality of the timber,[3]) was listed as Vulnerable in 2003 on Norfolk Island.[7] 502 plants were counted in 2003.[3]

The genus name of Ungeria is in honour of Franz Unger (1800–1870), an Austrian botanist, paleontologist and plant physiologist.[8] The Latin specific epithet of floribunda means "many-flowering", (such as Floribunda).[9] Both the genus and sole species were first described and published in Meletemata Botanica (Melet. Bot.) on page 27 in 1832.[1] The genus is recognized by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service, but they do not list any known species.[2]
Culture

On 14 January 2020, an image of Ungeria floribunda was used on a postage stamp for Australia, one of two 'Norfolk Island Early Botanical Art' stamps.[4]
References

"Ungeria Schott & Endl. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
"Genus Ungeria Schott & Endl". npgsweb.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
Peter Coyne Norfolk Island's Fascinating Flora (2011), p. 84, at Google Books
"stamp Ungeria floribunda 2020". www.anbg.gov.au. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
Australian Government Pub. Service, 1982 Flora of Australia, Volume 49, p. 108, at Google Books
J.D. Holloway Lepidoptera of Norfolk Island. Their Biogeography and Ecology (1977), p. 77, at Google Books
"Ungeria floribunda — Bastard Oak". Retrieved 2 January 2022.
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.
Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 184533731X.