Hoplestigma

Hoplestigma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Boraginales
Family: Hoplestigmataceae
Genus: Hoplestigma
Pierre
Type species
Hoplestigma klaineanum
Pierre
Species

See text.

Hoplestigma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hoplestigmataceae. It is the only genus in the family. It has also been placed in the family Boraginaceae s.l. Its two species are native to Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Liberia in western tropical Africa.

Taxonomy

The genus Hoplestigma was established by Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre in 1899. The genus name Hoplestigma is derived from the Greek hople, "a hoof or a cloven hoof" and stigma, "a flower stigma". The botanical name is a reference to the deeply bifid style.

The family placement of the genus has varied. It was traditionally included in Boraginaceae sensu lato, as it was in the APG IV system, and by Plants of the World Online as of December 2025. A study of pollen in 1989 suggested that Hoplestigma might be related to the family Ehretiaceae (= Boraginaceae subfamily Ehretioideae). In a 2014 molecular phylogenetic study based on chloroplast DNA, Hoplestigma formed a strongly supported clade with Coldenia and genera that have been placed in the family Cordiaceae (= Boraginaceae subfamily Cordioideae) and the authors recommended that Hoplestigma and Coldenia be included in Cordiaceae. In 2016, the Boraginales Working Group placed Hoplestigma in its own family Hoplestigmataceae.

Species

As of December 2025, two species were recognized:

Both are rare trees of lowland jungle in West and Central Africa.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Hoplestigma Pierre". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
  2. 1 2 "Hoplestigma Pierre". World Flora Online. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
  3. ↑ "Hoplestigmataceae Gilg". World Flora Online. Retrieved 2025-12-17.
  4. ↑ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. II. Boca Raton: CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-2676-9.
  5. ↑ Heywood, Vernon H.; Brummitt, Richard K.; Seberg, Ole & Culham, Alastair (2007). Flowering Plant Families of the World. Ontario, Canada: Firefly Books. ISBN 978-1-55407-206-4.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ Nowicke, Joan W. & Miller, James S. (1989). "Pollen morphology and the relationships of Hoplestigmataceae". Taxon. 38 (1): 12–16. doi:10.2307/1220882. JSTOR 1220882.
  8. ↑ Weigend, Maximilian; Luebert, Federico; Gottschling, Marc; Couvreur, Thomas L.P.; Hilger, Hartmut H.; Miller, James S. (2014). "From capsules to nutlets — phylogenetic relationships in the Boraginales". Cladistics. 30 (5): 508–518. doi:10.1111/cla.12061. PMID 34794245. S2CID 11954615.
  9. ↑ Luebert, Federico; Cecchi, Lorenzo; Frohlich, Michael W.; Gottschling, Marc; Guilliams, C. Matt; Hasenstab-Lehman, Kristen E.; Hilger, Hartmut H.; Miller, James S.; Mittelbach, Moritz; Nazaire, Mare; Nepi, Massimo; Nocentini, Daniele; Ober, Dietrich; Olmstead, Richard G.; Selvi, Federico; Simpson, Michael G.; Sutorý, Karel; Valdés, Benito; Walden, Genevieve K.; Weigend, Maximilian (24 June 2016). "Boraginales Working Group: Familial classification of the Boraginales". Taxon. 65 (3): 502–522. doi:10.12705/653.5. hdl:11365/993946.
  10. ↑ Mabberley, David J. (2008). Mabberley's Plant-Book. Cambridge University Press.