Prockia

Prockia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Salicaceae
Subfamily: Salicoideae
Tribe: Prockieae
Genus: Prockia
P.Browne ex L.
Type species
Prockia crucis
P.Browne ex L.
Species

Six (6). See text

Synonyms

Prockia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Salicaceae. It consists of approximately six species of shrubs and small trees native to the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and South America. Its type species, Prockia crucis, is highly polymorphic and has a broad distribution, from Mexico and the West Indies to Uruguay and northern Argentina.

The genus name of Prockia is in honour of Christian Leberecht von Prøck (1718–1780), a Danish baron. He served as Governor-General of the Danish West Indies colonies from 1756 to 1766.[1] It was first described and published in Syst. Nat. edition.10, Vol.2 on page 1074 in 1759.[2]

Historically, Prockia was characterized by having pseudo-axile placentation (i.e., parietal placentae that intrude into the center of the ovary and eventually fuse, appearing axile) and 3-merous flowers and lacking nectaries.[3] However, discoveries of new species have confounded a simple morphological diagnosis of the genus, as P. pentamera has 5-merous flowers, and P. oaxacana and P. krusei are polygamodioecious or androdioecious and have more typical parietal placentation.[4] Formerly placed in the heterogeneous family Flacourtiaceae,[5] Prockia is now classified in tribe Prockieae of Salicaceae, along with close relatives Banara, Hasseltiopsis, Pineda, and Neosprucea.[6]

Prockia crucis is sometimes confused with Pineda ovata (Salicaceae) in the high elevations of Bolivia.[7]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Prockia P.Browne ex L. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ^ Sleumer, H.O. 1980. Flacourtiaceae. Flora Neotropica 22: 1-499.
  4. ^ Jiménez Ramírez, Jaime; Cruz Durán, Ramiro; Vega Flores, Karla (2008). "Prockia oaxacana (Salicaceae), una especie nueva del Estado de Oaxaca, México". Novon. 18 (3): 351–356. doi:10.3417/2005037.
  5. ^ Lemke, D.E. 1988. A synopsis of Flacourtiaceae. Aliso 12: 29-43.
  6. ^ Alford, M.H. 2008. Revision of Neosprucea (Salicaceae). Systematic Botany Monographs 85: 1-62.
  7. ^ Alford, M.H. 2006. A taxonomic revision of the Andean genus Pineda (Salicaceae). Kew Bulletin 61: 205-214.