Micropholis

Genus of flowering plants

For the prehistoric amphibian, see Micropholis (amphibian). For the brittle star genus now renamed Microphiopholis, see Amphiuridae.

Micropholis

Micropholis crassipedicellata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Plantae
Clade:  | Tracheophytes
Clade:  | Angiosperms
Clade:  | Eudicots
Clade:  | Asterids
Order:  | Ericales
Family:  | Sapotaceae
Subfamily:  | Chrysophylloideae
Genus:  | Micropholis
(Griseb.) Pierre
Synonyms[1][2]

* Sapota section Micropholis Griseb.
* Pouteria section Micropholis (Griseb.) Baehni
* Crepinodendron Pierre
* Meioluma Baill.
* Paramicropholis Aubrév. & Pellegr.
* Platyluma Baill.
* Sprucella Pierre 1890, illegitimate homonym, not Steph. 1886 (Lepidoziaceae)
* Stephanoluma Baill.
* Syzygiopsis Ducke

Micropholis is genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae, described in 1891.[3][1][4]

These trees are native to tropical South America, Mesoamerica, and the West Indies.[5] Most are locally known as "cafetos", literally meaning "coffee plants". But while both Micropholis and the coffeeplant genus Coffea are asterids, the present genus is part of the Ericales - a quite basal asterid lineage -, while Coffea belongs to the more advanced Gentianales.

They are valued for their wood, which is used as timber, for construction and as firewood; many species are threatened by overexploitation and habitat destruction. Also, they are often used as part of catuaba, a decoction from various tree's bark claimed to have aphrodisiac and stimulant properties.

Caimitillo verde (M. garciniifolia) is an important food source of the nearly-extinct Puerto Rican amazon bird (Amazona vittata).

## Species

[edit]

41 species are accepted.[2]

1. Micropholis acutangula (Ducke) Eyma – French Guiana, Amapá
2. Micropholis brochidodroma T.D.Penn. – Ecuador, N Peru
3. Micropholis casiquiarensis Aubrév. – Guyana, Venezuela (Amazonas), Brazil (Amazonas)
4. Micropholis caudata T.D.Penn. – Brazil (Amazonas)
5. Micropholis cayennensis T.D.Penn. – French Guiana, Amapá
6. Micropholis compta Pierre – eastern Brazil
7. Micropholis crassipedicellata (Mart. & Eichler) Pierre – eastern and southern Brazil
8. Micropholis crotonoides (Pierre) Pierre – Costa Rica, Panama, St. Lucia, NW South America
9. Micropholis cylindrocarpa (Poepp.) Pierre – Brazil (Amazonas), Peru (Loreto)
10. Micropholis egensis (A.DC.) Pierre – Panama, N South America
11. Micropholis emarginata T.D.Penn. – Bahia
12. Micropholis garciniifolia Pierre – Puerto Rico
13. Micropholis gardneriana (A.DC.) Pierre – Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil
14. Micropholis gnaphaloclados (Mart.) Pierre – Brazil, Bolivia
15. Micropholis grandiflora Aubrév. – Brazil (Amazonas)
16. Micropholis guyanensis (A.DC.) Pierre – Costa Rica, Panama, West Indies, tropSouth America
17. Micropholis humboldtiana (Roem. & Schult.) T.D.Penn. – Venezuela, Brazil
18. Micropholis laevigata (Mart.) Swenson & A.D.Faria – Costa Rica to Peru and northern Brazil
19. Micropholis longipedicellata Aubrév. – French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Amapá
20. Micropholis macrophylla (K.Krause) T.D.Penn. – Peru (Loreto)
21. Micropholis madeirensis (Baehni) Aubrév. – Brazil (Amazonas), Peru (Loreto)
22. Micropholis maguirei Aubrév. – Venezuela, Brazil
23. Micropholis maxima (T.D.Penn.) Swenson & A.D.Faria – French Guiana and northern Brazil (Amazonas)
24. Micropholis melinoniana Pierre – S Mexico, Central America, NW South America
25. Micropholis mensalis (Baehni) Aubrév. – French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, N Brazil
26. Micropholis obscura T.D.Penn. – French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, Peru, N Brazil
27. Micropholis oppositifolia (Ducke) Swenson – northern Brazil (Pará and Amapá)
28. Micropholis polita (Griseb.) Pierre – Cuba, Haiti
29. Micropholis porphyrocarpa (Baehni) Monach. – French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, N Brazil
30. Micropholis resinifera (Ducke) Eyma – Brazil (Amazonas)
31. Micropholis retusa (Spruce ex Miq.) Eyma – Brazil (Amazonas)
32. Micropholis rugosa (Sw.) Pierre – Jamaica
33. Micropholis sanctae-rosae (Baehni) T.D.Penn. – French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, N Brazil
34. Micropholis spectabilis (Steyerm.) T.D.Penn. – Bolívar
35. Micropholis splendens Gilly ex Aubrév. – Venezuela, Brazil
36. Micropholis submarginalis Pires & T.D.Penn. – Brazil (Amazonas)
37. Micropholis suborbicularis Aubrév. – Venezuela
38. Micropholis trunciflora Ducke – Peru and northern Brazil
39. Micropholis venamoensis Ducke – Bolívar
40. Micropholis venulosa (Mart. & Eichler) Pierre – Central \+ South America
41. Micropholis williamii Aubrév. & Pellegr. – Brazil (Amazonas, Pará)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Tropicos, Micropholis (Griseb.) Pierre
2. ^ a b "Micropholis (Griseb.) Pierre". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
3. ^ Pierre, Jean Baptiste Louis. 1891. Notes Botaniques: Sapotacées 2: 37–38
4. ^ Govaerts, R.; Harvey, Y.; Jessup, L.; Pennington, T.D. & Vink, W. (2001): World Checklist of Sapotaceae - Micropholis. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2008-DEC-24.
5. ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families

Taxon identifiers

Micropholis|

* Wikidata: Q2709804
* Wikispecies: Micropholis (Sapotaceae)
* APDB: 192626
* CoL: 8VSCP
* EoL: 107760
* GBIF: 2887381
* GRIN: 7593
* iNaturalist: 185777
* IPNI: 36798-1
* IRMNG: 1378609
* ITIS: 23840
* NCBI: 233709
* Open Tree of Life: 603198
* PLANTS: MICRO4
* POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:36798-1
* Tropicos: 40019205
* WFO: wfo-4000024173

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