Bourreria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ehretiaceae (sometimes placed in Boraginaceae), comprising about 43–52 accepted species of shrubs and small trees. Members are commonly known as strongbark or strongback. The genus was named by Patrick Browne in honour of the German pharmacist Johann Ambrosius Beurer. Bourreria is native to the tropical and subtropical Americas — from Mexico through Central America and the Caribbean to northern South America, including Florida in the United States — with a separate range in eastern Africa from Ethiopia to Mozambique, and across the Indian Ocean in Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, and Mauritius. The center of diversity lies in the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico. Species produce clusters of flowers and fleshy fruits, and several are recognised by local common names throughout their range, such as smooth strongbark (Bourreria havanensis), Bahamian strongbark (Bourreria succulenta), and rough strongbark (Bourreria tomentosa).
Etymology
The genus name Bourreria was chosen by the Irish botanist Patrick Browne (1720–1790) to honour Johann Ambrosius Beurer (1718–1754), a German pharmacist, naturalist, and collector. Browne described the genus in his 1756 work The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica.
Distribution
Bourreria has a disjunct pantropical distribution. In the Americas, species occur from Mexico through Central America and the Caribbean to northern South America, extending into Florida and the West Indies, with the greatest species diversity concentrated in the Caribbean basin, Central America, and Mexico. A separate African–Indian Ocean range extends from Ethiopia south to Mozambique and east across Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, and Mauritius.
