Ancylobothrys (also spelled Ancylobotrys) is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, within the order Gentianales. Described by French botanist Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre in 1898 and published in the Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Paris, the genus is native to tropical and southern Africa.
As of December 2023, Plants of the World Online recognizes eight accepted species: Ancylobothrys amoena, A. capensis, A. petersiana, A. pumila, A. pyriformis, A. robusta, A. scandens, and A. tayloris. The most widespread species is A. petersiana, which ranges across eastern, central, and southern Africa, the Comoros, and Madagascar, and has become naturalized in Mauritius. A. capensis is found in Botswana and South Africa, while A. pumila is known only from KwaZulu-Natal. A. tayloris occurs in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique. Several other species (A. amoena, A. pyriformis, A. robusta, A. scandens) are distributed across western and/or central Africa.
The original orthography published by Pierre was "Ancylobothrys" (with an 'h'); the spelling "Ancylobotrys" is an orthographic variant, confirmed by Huber (1963) and Leeuwenberg (1994). A comprehensive taxonomic revision by Vonk et al. was published in 1994 in the Wageningen Agricultural University Papers.
Distribution
Ancylobothrys is native to tropical and southern Africa. The most widespread species, A. petersiana, occurs across eastern, central, and southern Africa, including the Comoros and Madagascar, and is naturalized in Mauritius. Other species have more restricted ranges: A. capensis is found in Botswana and South Africa; A. pumila is endemic to KwaZulu-Natal; A. tayloris occurs in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique; and several species (A. amoena, A. pyriformis, A. robusta, A. scandens) are distributed across western and/or central Africa.
Taxonomy
The genus was described by Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre and published in the Bulletin Mensuel de la Société Linnéenne de Paris (sér. 2) 1: 91 in 1898. The original orthography was "Ancylobothrys" (with an 'h'), but the spelling "Ancylobotrys" is also widely used as an orthographic variant — this is confirmed by Huber (Flora of West Tropical Africa, 2nd ed., 1963) and Leeuwenberg (Wageningen Agricultural University Papers, 1994). A comprehensive taxonomic revision was published by Vonk et al. in 1994: "Series of revisions of Apocynaceae XXXVII. Revision of Ancylobotrys Pierre" (Agric. Univ. Wageningen Pap. 94–3:1–44). Both spellings are accepted in GBIF, though with separate taxonomic keys. The genus belongs to the subfamily Rauvolfioideae within the Apocynaceae.
