Helicteroideae

East Indian screw tree Helicteres isora, photographed by J. M. Garg.

Belongs within: Malvaceae.

The Helicteroideae is a tropical clade within the Malvaceae supported by molecular analysis. Baum et al. (1998) defined it as the most exclusive clade including Durio zibethinus and Helicteres isora. Durio zibethinus, durian, is a native of southeastern Asia whose large, thorny-skinned fruits are variously prized or reviled for their strongly scented flesh.

Characters (from the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website): Petiole pulvinate; sepals connate, petals clawed, often with lateral constrictions; androgynophore +; stamens 10-many, usually with short tube and/or fascicles; pollen baculate or microverrucate to suprareticulate; outer and inner integuments 2 cells across; n = 9, 14, 20, 25, etc.

<==Helicteroideae BAN98
    |--+--Coelostegia BAN98
    |  |--Neesia BAN98
    |  |--Cullenia BAN98
    |  |--Kostermansia BAN98
    |  `--Durio [Durioneae] BAN98
    |       |--D. graveolens K03
    |       `--D. zibethinus BAN98
    `--+--Reevesia BAN98
       |--Triplochiton scleroxylon BAN98, V01
       |--Ungeria BAN98
       |--Neoregnellia BAN98
       `--Helicteres BAN98
            |--H. angustifolia LK14
            |--H. cana LK14
            |--H. guazumifolia MM96
            |--H. isora BAN98
            `--H. rhynchocarpa LK14

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BAN98] Baum, D. A., W. S. Anderson & R. Nyffeler. 1998. A durian by any other name: taxonomy and nomenclature of the core Malvales. Harvard Papers in Botany 3 (2): 315–330.

[K03] Kulip, J. 2003. An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal and other useful plants of Muruts in Sabah, Malaysia. Telopea 10 (1): 81–98.

[LK14] Lyons, M. N., G. J. Keighery, L. A. Gibson & T. Handasyde. 2014. Flora and vegetation communities of selected islands off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 81: 205–244.

[MM96] Mound, L. A., & R. Marullo. 1996. The thrips of Central and South America: an introduction (Insecta: Thysanoptera). Memoirs on Entomology, International 6: 1–487.

[V01] Vánky, K. 2001. The emended Ustilaginaceae of the modern classificatory system for smut fungi. Fungal Diversity 6: 131–147.

Last updated: 22 July 2021.