Celastraceae

Family: Celastraceae

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Rosids > Eurosid I

There are about 92 genera and 1350 species worldwide of which 24 genera and 88 species are native to southern Africa. An additional one genus and eight species are cultivated in the region.

Genera native to southern Africa

List from Plants of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI).

Allocassine One species: Allocassine laurifolia, found in dry forest and forested ravines from eastern Zimbabwe down to the Eastern Cape.
Cassine The 3 species are endemic to southern Africa. Most of the non-southern African species that were previously placed in Cassine are now in the genus Elaeodendron.
Catha One species: Catha edulis, widespread in the eastern parts of Africa and is also found on the Arabian Peninsula and Madagascar. In southern Africa, its distribution extends from Limpopo province down to the Eastern Cape. Chewing the leaves provides an amphetamin-like stimulant action.
Elachyptera Split off from Hippocratea. One species in southern Africa: Elachyptera parvifolia.
Elaeodendron About 30 species, found worldwide with 4 species in southern Africa.
Empleuridium One species: Empleuridium juniperinum, found only in the mountains of the Caledon district in the Western Cape.
Gloveria One species: Gloveria integrifolia, found in the Northern and Western Cape.
Gymnosporia About 80 species, native to Africa, Madagascar, southern Europe, Asia, Australia and Polynesian Islands. There are 31 species native to southern Africa.
Hippocratea One species in southern Africa: Hippocratea africana.
Lauridia The 2 species are endemic to southern Africa.
Loeseneriella Split off from Hippocratea. Two species are native to southern Africa.
Lydenburgia Two species, both endemic to southern Africa: one in Limpopo Province and the other in Pondoland (Eastern Cape).
Maurocenia One species: Maurocenia frangula, found only in kloofs and coastal bush on the Cape Peninsula and in the West Coast National Park.
Maytenus About 150 species worldwide, of which 13 are native to southern Africa.
Mystroxylon One species: Mystroxylon aethiopicum, widespread in Africa and the Mascarene Islands.
Pleurostylia About 3-5 species, found in Africa, Mascarene Islands and Australasia. One species in southern Africa: Pleurostylia capensis.
Prionostemma Split off from Hippocratea. One species in southern Africa: Prionostemma delagoensis.
Pristimera Split off from Hippocratea. Two species in southern Africa.
Pseudosalacia One species: Pseudosalacia streyi, which is a rare tree found in coastal forest of KwaZulu-Natal.
Pterocelastrus The four species are all native to southern Africa but the distribution of the genus extends as far north as Malawi.
Putterlickia The four species are all native to southern Africa.
Reissantia Split off from Hippocratea. Three species native to southern Africa.
Robsonodendron The two species are endemic to southern Africa, found in forest and coastal bush.
Salacia About 200 species worldwide, of which five are native to southern Africa.

Other genera, cultivated in southern Africa

Information from Glen (2002).

Euonymus

About 175 species that are either shrubs, trees or climbers and are native mainly to Asia. Eight species are cultivated in southern Africa.

Publications

Archer, R.H. & Jordaan, M. 2000. Celastraceae. In: Seed Plants of Southern Africa (ed. O.A. Leistner). Strelitzia 10: 214-220. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
Glen, H.F. 2002. Cultivated plants of southern Africa. Jacana, Johannesburg.