Plants in the genus Cupaniopsis are trees, either monoecious or diecious with paripinnate leaves arranged in opposite pairs or alternately along the branches, the flowers arranged in leaf axils in raceme-like or panicle-like groups. The flowers are small, have 5 sepals and 5 petals with 6 to 10 stamens, the ovary usually with 3 locules. The fruit is an oval to more or less spherical, slightly fleshy capsule. The seed is elliptical with a thin, cup-shaped aril that usually nearly encloses the seed.[2][3]
Taxonomy
The genus Cupaniopsis was first formally described in 1879 by Ludwig Adolph Timotheus Radlkofer in the journal Sitzungsberichte der Mathematisch-Physikalischen Classe der Königlichen Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Munchen.[4] The first species he named, the type species, was Cupaniopsis anacardioides. The genus name (Cupaniopsis) means a 'resemblance to the genus Cupania', in turn, named after the Italian monk, Francesco Cupani.[5]
In 1991 a 190-page monograph of the genus was published by Dutch botanist Frits Adema.[6]
Australian botanist Sally T. Reynolds, from 1984 to 1991 published new formal scientific names, descriptions, updates and species clarifications, in her scientific journal articles[7][8] and the Flora of Australia treatment.[2]
Conservation status
Globally, the New Caledonian endemic species C. crassivalvis has become extinct according to the IUCN's 1998 assessment.[9]
^ abc"Cupaniopsis". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
^ abcdReynolds, Sally T. "Cupaniopsis". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
^ abHarden, Gwen J. "Cupaniopsis". Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
^"Cupaniopsis". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
^Sharr, Francis Aubi; George, Alex (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings (3rd ed.). Kardinya, WA: Four Gables Press. p. 72. ISBN9780958034180.