Hylandia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Euphorbiaceae. The genus was established by botanist Herbert K. Airy Shaw in 1974 and is named in honour of Australian botanist Bernard (Bernie) Hyland for his contributions to the study of Australian flora.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Clade: Angiosperms → Eudicots → Rosids
- Order: Malpighiales
- Family: Euphorbiaceae
- Subfamily: Crotonoideae
- Tribe: Codiaeae
- Genus: Hylandia Airy Shaw
Species
The genus contains a single accepted species:
- Hylandia dockrillii Airy Shaw – commonly known as “blushwood”.
Description and Distribution
Hylandia dockrillii is a tree native to the Cook region of Queensland, Australia. The species is part of the rainforest understory and is noted for its reddish‑brown bark and the production of a resinous latex typical of many Euphorbiaceae. The common name “blushwood” is also applied to the related species Fontainea picrosperma, from which the anticancer compound tigilanol tiglate (EBC‑46) is derived.
Nomenclatural History
The genus was first described in a 1974 publication in the Kew Bulletin (vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 329–331). Airy Shaw explicitly stated that the name honours Mr. Hyland for his assistance in obtaining and forwarding plant material from Queensland. The name and its type species are recorded in the Australian Plant Name Index (APNI) and are recognised by the Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families.
References
- Airy Shaw, H. K. (1974). “Notes on Malesian and other Asiatic Euphorbiaceae: CLXXXVI. A new ostodoid genus from Queensland.” Kew Bulletin, 29(2), 329–331.
- Australian Plant Name Index (APNI). “Hylandia.”
- Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (2020). Entry for Hylandia dockrillii.