User:DavidAnstiss/Mansonia (plant

Mansonia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Malvaceae.

This genus is accepted, and its native range is W. Its native range is western Tropical Africa to Tanzania and East Himalaya to Indo-China. Assam, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Congo, East Himalaya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Laos, Liberia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo

Description
Large evergreen or deciduous (?) trees MorphologyLeaves Leaves entire, margin remotely crenate to faintly dentate, palmately nerved from the base, domatia present or not; petiolate; stipulate MorphologyReproductive morphologyInflorescences Inflorescences axillary or subterminal, many-flowered, corymbose cymes, the ultimate divisions subumbellate; peduncle and pedicels expanding in fruit; subtended by inconspicuous, bracts and bracteoles caducous MorphologyGeneralBuds Floral buds ovateacute MorphologyReproductive morphologyFlowers Flowers mostly hermaphroditic, rarely male, zygomorphic MorphologyReproductive morphologyFlowersCalyx Calyx spathaceous, splitting unilaterally, deciduous MorphologyReproductive morphologyFlowersCorolla Petals 5, contorted-imbricate, opposite the carpels, free, glabrous above, ciliate at the base and contracted into a small claw or claw absent, white or yellow to reddish. MorphologyReproductive morphologyFlowersNectaries Small, scale-like nectary attached at the base of the inner surface of the petal (FTEA) or nectary absent. MorphologyReproductive morphologyFlowersAndrogynophore Androgynophore welldeveloped; stamens 10, uniseriate, paired or distinct, inserted at the apex of the androgynophore, filaments free or almost free, much longer than (FTEA) or shorter than the anthers; anthers mono- or di-thecal (FTEA), superposed when di-thecal, dorsifixed, extrorse; staminodes 5, petaloid, lanceolate to linear, valvate, borne in a whorl between the stamens and carpels and alternate with the carpels MorphologyReproductive morphologyFlowersGynoeciumOvary Ovary of 5 free carpels, carpels fusiform, densely-pubescent, opposite the petals; 5–9 ovules per carpel, ovules biseriate, minute, anatropous, affixed to the inner suture of the carpel; each carpel prolonged into a filiform, flexuous style; stigmas minute, capitate. MorphologyReproductive morphologyFruits Fruit dry, 1–2(–3) carpels maturing into 1-seeded, indehiscent samaras, the wing dorsal, opposite the raphe and funiculus of the seed, chartaceous, pubescent internally MorphologyReproductive morphologySeeds Seeds attached above, glabrous; endosperm scanty; cotyledons 2, thin, contortuplicate, but when teased apart large, obcordate, foliaceous, and prominently palmately-veined.

Taxonomy
It was once placed within the Sterculiaceae family, until a study then placed all the genera in the family Malvaceae, and divided into the 4 subfamilies: Byttnerioideae, Dombeyoideae, Helicteroideae and Sterculioideae. Mansonia is now placed in the Helicteroideae subfamily. The genus name of Mansonia is in honour of Francis Bruce Manson (c. 1850 – 1908), plant collector in Burma (present-day Myanmar) with the Indian Forest Service. it was first described and published in J. S. African Bot. Vol.33 on page 308 in 1967. J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 37: 260 (1905)

It was originally descried in 1905 by Drummond, as monootypic with one type species Mansonia altissima.

The East African species stands apart from the other species in the genus in having di-thecal (versus mono-thecal) anthers. This character is the principal basis for dividing the genus into M. subgen. Diatomanthera Brenan, which consists solely of M. diatomanthera, and M. subgen. Mansonia ( Eu-Mansonia A.Chev.), which accomodates the remaining species.

The genus is recognised by United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service, but they do not list any known species.

Known species
According to Kew: