Leptopus, the maidenbushes, are a genus of plants in the family Phyllanthaceae native to southern Asia from the Caucasus east to China and Maluku.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesFlora of China Vol. 11 Page 169 雀舌木属 que she mu shu Leptopus Decaisne in Jacquemont, Voy. Inde. 4(Bot.): 155. 1835. The plants are monoecious herbs and shrubs with simple, entire leaves and small, green flowers.
Leptopus is one of eight genera in the tribe PoranthereaePetra Hoffmann, Hashendra S. Kathriarachchi, and Kenneth J. Wurdack. 2006. "A Phylogenetic Classification of Phyllanthaceae." Kew Bulletin 61(1):37-53. and comprises 9 species.Maria S. Vorontsova and Petra Hoffmann. 2008. "A phylogenetic classification of tribe Poranthereae (Phyllanthaceae)." Kew Bulletin 63(1):41-59. It is the sister of Actephila. The type species is Leptopus cordifolius.Leptopus In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below). The name is derived from two Greek words, leptos, "thin, slender, or small", and pous, "foot", a reference to slender pedicels.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names volume II. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, USA. London, UK. . The genus was first described in 1836Decaisne, Joseph. 1836. in Jacquemont, Venceslas Victor, Voyage dans l'Inde 4: 155, pl. 156 in LatinTropicos, Leptopus Decne. and revised in 2009.Maria S. Vorontsova and Petra Hoffmann. 2009. "Revision of the genus Leptopus (Phyllanthaceae, Euphorbiaceae sensu lato)". Kew Bulletin 64(4):627-644.
Leptopus fangdingianus had been placed by some authors in a separate genus, Archileptopus, but it was shown in 2007 that recognition of Archileptopus makes Leptopus paraphyletic.Maria S. Vorontsova, Petra Hoffmann, Olivier Maurin, and Mark W. Chase. 2007. "Phylogenetics of tribe Poranthereae (Phyllanthaceae)." American Journal of Botany 94(12):2026-2040. Phyllanthopsis phyllanthoides has been placed in Leptopus as well as in Andrachne. In 2007, it was shown to not properly belong to either genus and in 2008 was assigned to a new genus, Phyllanthopsis.
Species
formerly included moved to other genera: Chorisandrachne Euphorbia Notoleptopus Phyllanthopsis
References
External links Leptopus At: Index Nominum Genericorum At: References At: NMNH Department of Botany