Rothmannia is a genus of African flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It was described in 1776 and was named after Göran Rothman (1739–1778) 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 (E.P. Wright) Keay Rothmannia capensis Thunb. Rothmannia ebamutensis Sonké Rothmannia engleriana (K.Schum.) Keay Rothmannia fischeri (K.Schum.) Bullock ex Oberm. Rothmannia globosa (Hochst.) Keay Rothmannia hispida (K.Schum.) Fagerl. Rothmannia jollyana N. Hallé Rothmannia lateriflora (K.Schum.) Keay Rothmannia libisa N. Hallé Rothmannia liebrechtsiana (De Wild. & T. Durand) Keay Rothmannia longiflora Salisb. Rothmannia lujae (De Wild.) Keay Rothmannia macrocarpa (Hiern) Keay Rothmannia macrosiphon (K.Schum.) Bridson Rothmannia manganjae (Hiern) Keay Rothmannia mayumbensis(R.D. Good) Keay Rothmannia munsae (Schweinf. ex Hiern) E.M.A. Petit Rothmannia octomera (Hook.) Fagerl. Rothmannia ravae (Chiov.) Bridson Rothmannia talbotii (Wernham) Keay Rothmannia urcelliformis (Hiern) Bullock ex Robyns Rothmannia whitfieldii (Lindl.) Dandy
Asian 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:Pereira JT, Wong KM (2016) Sandakania 21: 42. IPNI - Rubiaceae: Ridsdalea J.T.Pereira & K.M.Wong R. attopevensis (Pit.) Bremek. R. daweishanensis Y.M. Shui & W.H. Chen R. eucodon (K.Schum.) Bremek. R. kampucheana Tirveng. R. kuchingensis (W.W.Sm.) K.M. Wong and R. malayana K.M. Wong are synonyms of Ridsdalea grandis (Korth.) J.T.Pereira R. macromera (Lauterb. & K.Schum.) Fagerl. R. merrillii (Elmer) J.T. Pereira & Ridsdale R. pulcherrima (Kurz) Tirveng. R. schoemannii (Teijsm. & Binn.) Tirveng. R. sootepensis (Craib) Bremek. R. thailandica Tirveng. R. uranthera (C.E.C. Fisch.) Tirveng. R. venalis Bremek. R. vidalii Bremek. R. vietnamensis Tirveng. R. wittii (Craib) Bremek.
Rothmannia macrophylla (Hook.f.) Bremek. is a synonym of Singaporandia macrophylla (Hook.f.) K.M.Wong
References
External links Rothmannia in the World Checklist of Rubiaceae