Petalostigma is a genus of plants under the family Picrodendraceae and the monogeneric subtribe Petalostigmatinae, first defined by von Mueller in 1857.Mueller, Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von. 1857. Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany 9: 16–17 in LatinTropicos, Petalostigma F. Muell. It is native to New Guinea and Australia.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesGovaerts, R., Frodin, D.G. & Radcliffe-Smith, A. (2000). World Checklist and Bibliography of Euphorbiaceae (and Pandaceae) 1-4: 1-1622. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. They are evergreen, dioecious shrubs or trees.
In local medicine, pregnancy is said to be avoided by eating the fruit of the quinine bush (Petalostigma pubescens), which does not actually contains quinine. Another example is Petalostigma triloculare which features exploding fruit.
Species This is a list of species in the genus as published by the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. Petalostigma banksii – Northern Territory, Queensland Petalostigma pachyphyllum – Queensland Petalostigma pubescens – quinine berry, quinine bush, quinine tree – Papua New Guinea, Queensland, Northern Territory, New South Wales, Western Australia Petalostigma quadriloculare – Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia Petalostigma triloculare – Queensland
See also Cinchona – another genus known for containing quinine Taxonomy of the Picrodendraceae
References