Trochetiopsis

Trochetiopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the Malvaceae family. It consists of 3 species, 2 extant, and 1 extinct, native to the island of Saint Helena in the south Atlantic Ocean.

This genus was formerly placed in the Sterculiaceae, but this is now included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics.

There is evidence from fossil pollen that the Trochetiopsis have been on Saint Helena since the late Miocene.

Description
The species of this genus were placed in the Trochetia genus, but were separated by Wessel Marais in 1981 on the basis of geography and morphological characters. Unlike the Trochetia, the members of the Trochetiopsis have only 5 stamens in their flowers. The sepals generally have appressed sericeous indumentum on their interior faces, with the exception of T. melanoxylon.

The wood of all the species is attractively colored, and used in island inlay works.

Species

 * Normal species
 * Trochetiopsis ebenus (critically endangered)
 * Trochetiopsis erythroxylon (extinct in the wild)
 * Trochetiopsis melanoxylon (extinct)


 * Hybrids
 * Trochetiopsis × benjaminii