Embelia is a genus of flowering plants comprising roughly 130–176 species of climbing and scrambling shrubs (lianas) found throughout the tropics and subtropics of the Old World. The genus was formerly classified in the family Myrsinaceae but, following molecular phylogenetic revisions, Myrsinaceae was subsumed into a broadened Primulaceae, and Embelia is now placed there, in the order Ericales. It was first published by Burman in 1768.
Species in the genus range widely across Africa and Madagascar and eastward through tropical Asia to the Pacific Islands and Australia, reflecting a broad Paleotropical distribution. Members are typically woody climbers rather than free-standing shrubs or trees, a growth habit that distinguishes the genus within its family.
One of the better-known species, Embelia ribes, is known by the common names "false black pepper" and "white-flowered embelia," names that allude to its superficial resemblance to true pepper (Piper nigrum) in fruit form. Beyond this, the genus is represented by numerous regional endemics, including several species native to Australia (New South Wales and Queensland) and others described from Madagascar and tropical Asia.
Distribution
Embelia comprises around 130 species distributed across tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World, including Africa, Madagascar, eastern Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Australia (where species occur in New South Wales and Queensland).
Taxonomy Notes
Embelia was historically placed in the family Myrsinaceae; that family has since been merged into a more broadly circumscribed Primulaceae, within the order Ericales, and GBIF's accepted classification now reflects this placement.
