Nestegis

Nestegis
Black maire (Nestegis cunninghamii) in New Zealand
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Tribe:	Oleeae
Subtribe:	Oleinae
Genus:	Nestegis Raf.[1]
Synonyms[2]
Gymnelaea (Endl.) Spach

Nestegis is a genus of flowering plant in the olive family, Oleaceae. There are five currently accepted species in the genus: three species are endemic to New Zealand, while one can be found on New Zealand and Norfolk Island. Another is restricted to Hawaiʻi.^[2]

Some species of the related genus Osmanthus are sometimes included here.^[3]

Etymology

The name Nestegis is of unknown origin, since the author Constantine Samuel Rafinesque often invented generic names from scratch. It may have no meaning at all or it may derive from Greek stegos (στέγος) meaning "cover" in allusion to the lack of a corolla in the type species, Nestegis apetala.^[4]

Description

Nestegis species are evergreen trees or shrubs. The leaves are opposite, simple, entire, and coriaceous. The inflorescence is axillary, decussate, sometimes terminal and somewhat paniculate. The flowers are either bisexual or functionally unisexual. The corolla is either absent or four-lobed with a short tube. There are two or four stamens. The ovary is shaped like a flask. The fruit is a drupe containing a single seed.

Species

Currently accepted species:^[2]

1. Nestegis apetala (Vahl) L.A.S.Johnson – New Zealand (where the common name is coastal maire or broad-leaved maire) and Norfolk Island (where it is called ironwood)
2. Nestegis cunninghamii (Hook.f.) L.A.S.Johnson – black maire (New Zealand)
3. Nestegis lanceolata – white maire (New Zealand)
4. Nestegis montana (Hook.f.) L.A.S.Johnson in O.Degener – narrow-leaved maire (New Zealand)
5. Nestegis sandwicensis (A.Gray) O.Deg., I.Deg. & L.A.S.Johnson – "olopua" (Hawaiʻi) ^[5]

Formerly included:

• Nestegis ligustrina – privet mock olive (New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria)^[6][7] formerly included in this genus but the name now considered a synonym of Notelaea ligustrina Vent.^[2]

References

1. "Nestegis Raf". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 3 April 2006. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
2. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
3. Shi-Quan Guo, Min Xiong, Chun-Feng Ji, Zhi-Rong Zhang, De-Zhu Li and Zhi-Yong Zhang, Molecular phylogenetic reconstruction of Osmanthus Lour. (Oleaceae) and related genera based on three chloroplast intergenic spacers, Plant Syst Evol (2011) 294:57–64
4. Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms and Etymology. Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 1815. ISBN 0-8493-2673-7.
5. "Olopua". Native Hawaiian Plants. Kapiʻolani Community College. Archived from the original on 18 September 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
6. "Nestegis ligustrina (Vent.)". PlantNET. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
7. "Nestegis ligustrina (Vent.) L.A.S.Johnson | BiologyBrowser". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.

• "Nestegis". Flora of Australia Online. Retrieved 24 July 2007.
• Salmon, John Tenison (1973). The Native Trees of New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: Reed Publishing. ISBN 0-589-01340-8.