Cupaniopsis
Cupaniopsis is a genus of about 45 species of flowering plants in the family, Sapindaceae and are native to Fiji, Indonesia, New Caledonia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands Vanuatu, Samoa, Torres Strait Islands, Micronesia and Australia. Plants in the genus Cupaniopsis are trees with paripinnate with small, regular flowers with 5 sepals and petals with 6 to 10 stamens and the fruit a capsule.
Description
Plants in the genus Cupaniopsis are trees, either monoecious or diecious with paripinnate leaves arranged in opposite pairs or alternately along the branches, the flowers arranged in leaf axils in raceme-like or panicle-like groups. The flowers are small, have 5 sepals and 5 petals with 6 to 10 stamens, the ovary usually with 3 locules. The fruit is an oval to more or less spherical, slightly fleshy capsule. The seed is elliptical with a thin, cup-shaped aril that usually nearly encloses the seed.Taxonomy
The genus Cupaniopsis was first formally described in 1879 by Ludwig Adolph Timotheus Radlkofer in the journal Sitzungsberichte der Mathematisch-Physikalischen Classe der Königlichen Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Munchen. The first species he named, the type species, was Cupaniopsis anacardioides. The genus name means a 'resemblance to the genus Cupania', in turn, named after the Italian monk, Francesco Cupani.Species list
The following is a list of Cupaniopsis species accepted by Plants of the World Online as at August 2024:- Cupaniopsis acuticarpa
- Cupaniopsis amoena
- Cupaniopsis anacardioides – tuckeroo, cashew-leaf cupania, carrotwood, beach tamarind, green-leaved tamarind
- Cupaniopsis apiocarpa
- Cupaniopsis azantha
- Cupaniopsis baileyana – narrow-leaved tuckeroo, toothed tuckeroo, white tamarind
- Cupaniopsis bilocularis
- Cupaniopsis bullata
- Cupaniopsis celebica Sulawesi
- Cupaniopsis chytradenia
- Cupaniopsis cooperorum – Cooper's puzzle
- Cupaniopsis crassivalvis
- Cupaniopsis curvidens
- Cupaniopsis dallachyi
- Cupaniopsis diploglottoides – velvet tamarind
- Cupaniopsis euneura
- Cupaniopsis flagelliformis – brown tuckeroo, weeping flower tamarind,
- Cupaniopsis fleckeri
- Cupaniopsis foveolata
- Cupaniopsis grisea
- Cupaniopsis hypodermatica
- Cupaniopsis kajewskii
- Cupaniopsis leptobotrys
- Cupaniopsis mackeeana
- Cupaniopsis macrocarpa
- Cupaniopsis macropetala
- Cupaniopsis megalocarpa
- Cupaniopsis napaensis
- Cupaniopsis newmanii – long-leaved tuckeroo
- Cupaniopsis papillosa – Tully Falls tamarind
- Cupaniopsis petiolulata
- Cupaniopsis phalacrocarpa
- Cupaniopsis phanerophlebia
- Cupaniopsis platycarpa
- Cupaniopsis rhytidocarpa
- Cupaniopsis serrata – smooth tuckeroo
- Cupaniopsis shirleyana – wedge-leaved tuckeroo
- Cupaniopsis simulata – northern tuckeroo
- Cupaniopsis stenopetala
- Cupaniopsis strigosa
- Cupaniopsis sylvatica
- Cupaniopsis tomentella
- Cupaniopsis trigonocarpa
- Cupaniopsis vitiensis
- Cupaniopsis wadsworthii
Australian botanist Sally T. Reynolds, from 1984 to 1991 published new formal scientific names, descriptions, updates and species clarifications, in her scientific journal articles and the Flora of Australia treatment.
Conservation status
Globally, the New Caledonian endemic species C. crassivalvis has become extinct according to the IUCN's 1998 assessment.In Australia, C. shirleyana and C. tomentella are listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and C. cooperorum is listed as "vulnerable" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act. C. newmannii is listed as "near threatened" under the same Act. C. serrata is listed as "endangered" in New South Wales under the Biodiversity Conservation Act.