Martellidendron
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| Martellidendron | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Pandanales |
| Family: | Pandanaceae |
| Genus: | Martellidendron (Pic.Serm.) Callm. & Chassot[1][2] |
| Species | |
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See text | |
Martellidendron is a genus of flowering plants in the family Pandanaceae, native to the Seychelles and Madagascar.[1][3] They bear a slight resemblance to palms, but are not closely related to them. Martellidendron was previously recognized as a section of the genus Pandanus in 1951 by Rodolfo Emilio Giuseppe Pichi-Sermolli,[4] then as a subgenus in 1974.[5] It was finally promoted to generic status in 2003 on the basis of phylogenetic studies that used chloroplast DNA sequence data.[3]
The genus name of Martellidendron is in honour of Ugolino Martelli (1860–1934), who was an Italian botanist, biologist, and mycologist,[6] plus dendron the Greek word for "tree".
The genus was circumscribed by Martin Wilhelm Callmander and Philippe Chassot in Taxon vol.52 (Issue 4) on page 755-762 in 2003.[1]
Martellidendron plants are dioecious, that is, the male and female flowers are on separate plants. The male flowers have many stamens (as many as 100[3]), and grow in an inflorescence that consists of spikes surrounded by bracts.[3] As the female flowers mature, they merge into an oblong or spherical multiple fruit.[3] An individual fruit is a drupe with two chambers.[3]