Toechima is a genus of small to medium-sized trees in the family Sapindaceae, order Sapindales. The genus comprises eight recognised species (including one undescribed), native to tropical and subtropical Australia — specifically New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and Queensland — as well as New Guinea. Within Sapindaceae, a large family that also includes lychee, maple, and horse chestnut, Toechima species are distinguished in part by their leaflet characteristics: the presence and form of domatia (small pit-like structures on leaf undersides) and the nature of leaf margins vary between species and serve as key identification characters in regional floras. Common names for some members include "pink tamarind" and "foambark" (T. erythrocarpum) and "blunt-leaved steelwood" (T. dasyrrhache). The genus was described by Ludwig Radlkofer, a prominent 19th-century botanist who specialised in Sapindaceae taxonomy. Species currently recognised by the Australian Plant Census and the Census of Vascular Plants of Papua New Guinea include T. daemelianum, T. dasyrrhache, T. erythrocarpum, T. livescens, T. monticola, T. pterocarpum, T. tenax, and one undescribed taxon from the Northern Territory.
Distribution
Toechima species are native to tropical and subtropical Australasia, occurring in New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and Queensland in Australia, as well as in New Guinea. Within New South Wales, the genus is represented by T. tenax and T. dasyrrhache.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus is placed within the family Sapindaceae, order Sapindales. Eight species are currently recognised by the Australian Plant Census and the Census of Vascular Plants of Papua New Guinea, including one undescribed taxon. Species epithets in the genus were largely assigned by Ludwig Radlkofer, the 19th-century authority on Sapindaceae systematics.
