Pterophylla (plant)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pterophylla | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Flowers and leaves of tōwai (Pterophylla sylvicola) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Oxalidales |
| Family: | Cunoniaceae |
| Genus: | Pterophylla D.Don |
Pterophylla is a genus of trees of the family Cunoniaceae, with species found growing naturally in Madagascar, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific Islands, formerly included in Weinmannia.
Species of Pterophylla are native to Madagascar and the Comoro Islands, and to Malesia (Peninsular Thailand and Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, Maluku, and the Philippines), Papuasia (New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Solomon Islands), Vanuatu, New Caledonia, New Zealand, and parts of Oceania (Fiji, Cook Islands, Marquesas Islands, Samoa Islands, Society Islands, and Tubuai Islands).[1]
Species of Pterophylla grow in lowland tropical forests in Madagascar, and generally in hill and montane tropical forests on the larger islands of Malesia and the Pacific. They are absent from Oceania's low coraline islands, but can be abundant on the higher volcanic islands from 300 to 750+ metres elevation. They are also found in subtropical and temperate forest in New Zealand between 0 and 1180 metres elevation.[2][3]