Drypetes is a genus of dioecious trees and shrubs in the family Putranjivaceae, within the order Malpighiales. It was formerly classified in the family Euphorbiaceae, in the tribe Drypeteae, where it stood out as the family's sole pantropical, animal-dispersed (zoochorous) genus.
The genus is large, comprising roughly 200 species, and has a pantropical distribution spanning Africa, southern Asia, Australia, Central America, the Caribbean, southern Florida, Mexico, and a number of oceanic islands. As dioecious plants, individual trees bear either male or female flowers, not both.
A distinctive chemical feature sets Drypetes apart from most of its relatives: together with the closely related genus Putranjiva (also in Putranjivaceae), it is one of the only plant lineages outside the order Brassicales known to produce mustard oils (glucosinolates). Since mustard oil chemistry is otherwise a hallmark of Brassicales (the group containing mustards, cabbages, and capers), its independent occurrence in Drypetes and Putranjiva is a notable example of convergent chemical evolution and has been used as a chemotaxonomic marker linking Putranjivaceae to Malpighiales rather than to the mustard-oil-producing Brassicales lineage.
The genus placement, family, and order are corroborated by GBIF's taxonomic backbone, which lists Drypetes as an accepted genus of Putranjivaceae in Malpighiales.
Distribution
Drypetes is pantropical, occurring in Africa, southern Asia, Australia, Central America, the Caribbean, southern Florida, Mexico, and various oceanic islands.
Ecology
Members are dioecious trees or shrubs. Drypetes and its relative Putranjiva are unusual among plants outside the order Brassicales in producing mustard oils, a trait more typically associated with the mustard/cabbage family lineage.
Taxonomy Notes
Drypetes was formerly placed in the family Euphorbiaceae (tribe Drypeteae), where it was that family's only pantropical zoochorous genus, before being moved to Putranjivaceae within Malpighiales. GBIF's current backbone confirms the Putranjivaceae/Malpighiales placement.
