Rothmannia
Rothmannia is a genus of African flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was described in 1776 and was named after Göran Rothman by Thunberg – both were pupils of Linnaeus.
Description
Although Rubiaceae flowers are generally organized in many-flowered inflorescences, solitary flowers are also found in this genus. The reduction of the number of flowers per inflorescence is often in inverse proportion to the size of the flowers, which explains the large solitary flowers of some Rothmannia.Distribution and species
The genus originally had wide distribution, but is now restricted to species found in tropical and southern Africa:Rothmannia annae KeayRothmannia capensis Thunb.Rothmannia ebamutensis SonkéRothmannia engleriana KeayRothmannia fischeri Bullock ex Oberm.Rothmannia globosa KeayRothmannia hispida Fagerl.Rothmannia jollyana N. HalléRothmannia lateriflora KeayRothmannia libisa N. HalléRothmannia liebrechtsiana KeayRothmannia longiflora Salisb.Rothmannia lujae KeayRothmannia macrocarpa KeayRothmannia macrosiphon BridsonRothmannia manganjae KeayRothmannia mayumbensis KeayRothmannia munsae E.M.A. PetitRothmannia octomera Fagerl.Rothmannia ravae BridsonRothmannia talbotii KeayRothmannia urcelliformis Bullock ex RobynsRothmannia whitfieldii DandyAsian species moved to other genera
The species found in western Indian Ocean, southern China to Indo-China and New Guinea are now placed in other genera, especially Ridsdalea:R. attopevensis Bremek.R. daweishanensis Y.M. Shui & W.H. ChenR. eucodon Bremek.R. kampucheana Tirveng.R. kuchingensis K.M. Wong and R. malayana K.M. Wong are synonyms of Ridsdalea grandis J.T.PereiraR. macromera Fagerl.R. merrillii J.T. Pereira & RidsdaleR. pulcherrima Tirveng.R. schoemannii Tirveng.R. sootepensis Bremek.R. thailandica Tirveng.R. uranthera Tirveng.R. venalis Bremek.R. vidalii Bremek.R. vietnamensis Tirveng.R. wittii Bremek.Rothmannia macrophylla Bremek. is a synonym of Singaporandia macrophylla K.M.Wong