Picconia

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Lamiales

Familia: Oleaceae
Tribus: Oleeae
Subtribus: Oleinae
Genus: Picconia
Species: P. azorica – P. excelsa
Name

Picconia A.DC.

Picconia is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae, found in the laurel forests habitat of Macaronesia.[1]

Description

They are evergreen shrubs to trees with large, opposite, entire, shiny, ovoid leaves and numerous flowers. The fruit is a drupe. The flowers are small, white and fragrant, followed by one-seeded, olive-like green fruits, ripening to bluish-black.[2] Picconia are native of open spots in the laurel forest of the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands where they are found only in the humid to hyper-humid evergreen forests of the cloud belt.[3] Tree species with laurel-like leaves are predominant, forming a dense canopy up to 40 m high that blocks out most light, resulting in scant vegetation in the understory.[3] Most of these tree species in Africa are ancient paleoendemic[4] species of the genera Laurus, Ocotea, Persea, and Picconia, which in ancient times were widely distributed on the African and European continents.[3][4]
Species

Picconia azorica - endemic to the archipelago of the Azores[5]
Picconia excelsa - tree up to 15m; Madeira, Canaries

References

"Vegetative Propagation Of The Endangered Azorean Tree Picconia Azorica". biblioteca.universia.net. Archived from the original on 2014-04-27. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
"Picconia --- Rareplants.eu Shop". www.rareplants.de.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/
Warren, Ben H.; Hawkins, Julie A. (7 September 2006). "The distribution of species diversity across a flora's component lineages: dating the Cape's 'relicts'". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences. 273 (1598): 2149–2158. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3560. PMC 1635518. PMID 16901834.
Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e do Mar (2008), Plantas Endémicas dos Açores: Guia da Ilha do Faial, p.13