Citharexylum Linnaeus (1753: 625)

Cardoso, Pedro Henrique, Valério, Vanessa Imaculada Dos Reis, Neto, Luiz Menini & Salimena, Fátima Regina Gonçalves, 2021, Verbenaceae in Espírito Santo, Brazil: richness, patterns of geographic distribution and conservation, Phytotaxa 484 (1), pp. 1-43 : 11

4. Citharexylum Linnaeus (1753: 625) .

Trees, dioecious, branches without prickles, not aromatic. Leaves petiolate, glands in pairs near to the petiole present. Inflorescences axillary and/or terminal, simple, racemes spiciform, multiflorous, rachis elongated; bracts membranaceous, green; bracteoles absent. Flowers pedicellate; calyx cupuliform, shorter than the corolla, coriaceous, green, 5-lobed, persistent, not accrescent in fruit; corolla zygomorphic, 5-lobed; 4 stamens fertile, didynamous, 1 staminode, included, superior pair of stamens without connective appendages, thecae parallel; ovary 2-carpelate, 2- loculate, ovules 1 per locule, stigma sub-capitate. Fruit a drupe, with 2 pyrenes, red, external surface smooth.

Citharexylum is part of the tribe Citharexyleae ( Marx et al. 2010) and presents approximately 60 species distributed from South United States to Argentina ( O’Leary & Moroni 2019, Cardoso et al. in press.). This genus can be characterized by the arborescent habit, glands in pairs often present near the petiole, and a fleshy fruit (a drupe) partially inserted inside the persistent calyx ( Atkins 2004). In Brazil, there are seven species, with the greatest richness in the Amazon Forest and Atlantic Forest (O’Leary & Thode 2020). One species is recorded for Espírito Santo state.