Alangium is a small genus of flowering plants. The genus is included either in a broad view of the dogwood family Cornaceae, or as the sole member of its own family Alangiaceae.Qiu-Yun (Jenny) Xiang, David T. Thomas, and Qiao Ping Xiang. 2011. "Resolving and dating the phylogeny of Cornales - Effects of taxon sampling, data partitions, and fossil calibrations". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 59(1):123-138. Alangium has about 40 species, but some of the species boundaries are not entirely clear.Chun-Miao Feng, Steven R. Manchester, and Qiu-Yun (Jenny) Xiang. 2009. "Phylogeny and biogeography of Alangiaceae (Cornales) inferred from DNA sequences, morphology, and fossils". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 51(2):201-214. The type species for Alangium is Alangium decapetalum, which is now treated as a subspecies of Alangium salviifolium.Alangium In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below). All of the species are shrubs or small trees, except the liana Alangium kwangsiense. A. chinense, A. platanifolium, and A. salviifolium are known in cultivation.Anthony Huxley, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (1992). The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. The Macmillan Press, Limited: London. The Stockton Press: New York. (set).
Description The genus consists of small trees, shrubs and lianas; a few species have spines. Leaves are undivided or lobed, arranged alternately on the twigs, possess a petiole (leaf stem), are without stipules, have domatia and are usually asymmetric. The inflorescences are cymes produced in the . The flowers are symmetrical in form, and have both male and female reproductive organs. They have 4–10 petals and sepals and have 4–40 stamens; the style has two to four lobes and the ovary has one or sometimes two locules. The fruit is a drupe with one or two seeds.
Range It is native to western Africa, Madagascar, southern and eastern Asia (China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines), tropical Australia, the western Pacific Ocean islands, and New Caledonia. Most of the species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of east and southeast Asia. Five of the species extend well outside of this area. Alangium platanifolium extends from east Asia into Russia. Alangium chinense extends from southeast Asia to Africa. Alangium salviifolium is the most widespread species, ranging from Africa to Australia, Fiji, and New Caledonia. Alangium villosum occurs from southeast Asia to Australia and the western Pacific islands. Alangium grisolleoides is endemic to Madagascar and gives the genus a disjunct distribution.
Alangium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some moth species in the Geometroidea-Drepanoidea assemblage including engrailed (Geometridae) and the subfamily Cyclidiinae (Drepanidae).
Etymology The name Alangium is a Latinization, derived from the Malayalam name alangi, which, in Kerala, refers to Alangium salviifolium.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names volume I. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, USA. London, UK. (vol. I). It was named in 1783 by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in his Encyclopédie Méthodique.Alangium At: International Plant Names Index. (See External links below).Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. 1783. Encyclopédie Méthodique: botanique. 1(1):174
Paleontological record The wood, fruit, and pollen of Alangium are distinctive. Fossils of Alangium have been recognized from the early Eocene of England and the middle Eocene of western North America. In former times, Alangium was far more widespread than it is today.
Species , Plants of the World Online accepts the following 57 species:
Taxonomy In 2011, a phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences showed that Alangium is sister to Cornus. Since 1939, Alangium has been divided into four sections: Conostigma, Rhytidandra, Marlea, and Alangium. Some authors have raised Marlea and Rhytidandra to generic rank. The intergeneric classification of Alangium will require a few changes.
Traditional uses One species, Alangium chinense (), is considered one of the fifty fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.
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