Epicharis (plant)

Epicharis
E. densiflora (type species) on an Indonesian stamp
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Sapindales
Family: Meliaceae
Subfamily: Melioideae
Genus: Epicharis
Blume (1825)
Type species
Epicharis densiflora
Species

see text

Synonyms

Piptosaccos Turcz. (1858)

Epicharis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Meliaceae. It includes seven species which range from Indochina to south-central China, Taiwan, Malesia, Papuasia, Queensland, and Fiji.

The genus was first named by Carl Ludwig Blume in 1825. Most of the species currently accepted were, until recently, included in genus Dysoxylum. A genetic study published in 2021 found that Dysoxylum is polyphyletic, and Epicharis was revived and re-circumscribed.

The genus is named for Epicharis (d. 65 CE), a Roman woman who was a leader in the Pisonian conspiracy, and who was tortured and committed suicide rather than betray her co-conspirators.