Putranjiva

"Palenga" redirects here. For the place, see Palenga, Uganda.

Putranjiva
Putranjiva roxburghii[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Putranjivaceae
Genus: Putranjiva
Wall.
Synonyms[2]
  • Nageia Roxb. 1832 not Gaertn. 1788
  • Palenga Thwaites
  • Liodendron H.Keng

Putranjiva is a plant genus of the family Putranjivaceae, first described as a genus in 1826. It is native to Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, Japan, southern China, and New Guinea.[2]

Along with Drypetes (of the same family), it contains mustard oils as a chemical defense against herbivores.[3] The ability to produce glucosinolates is believed to have evolved only twice, in the Putranjivaceae and the Brassicales.[3]

Putranjiva roxburghii seen in Hebbal Lake Gardens, Bangalore
Putranjiva roxburghii seen in Hebbal Lake Gardens, Bangalore
Male inflorescence of Putranjiva Roxburghii
Pollen grains of Putranjiva Roxburghii
Species[2]
  1. Putranjiva formosana Kaneh. & Sasaki ex Shimada - Guangdong, Taiwan
  2. Putranjiva matsumurae Koidz. - Honsu + Ryukyu Islands in Japan
  3. Putranjiva roxburghii Wall. - Indian Subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka), Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea
  4. Putranjiva zeylanica (Thwaites) Müll.Arg. - Sri Lanka
  1. ^ illustration from tab. 53 of D. Brandis, Illustrations of the Forest Flora of North-West and Central India, 1874
  2. ^ a b c Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. ^ a b Pamela S. Soltis and Douglas E. Soltis (2004), "The origin and diversification of angiosperms", American Journal of Botany, 91 (10): 1614–1626, doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1614, PMID 21652312