Pentagonia (plant)

Pentagonia is a genus of over 40 species of plants in the coffee or gardenia family (Rubiaceae). Pentagonia species are native to Central America and northern South America, and grow in moist tropical forests below 900m. The genus was first described by George Bentham in 1845. Pentagonia are typically small monopodial trees up to 8 meters tall, but some are much-branched trees up to 18 meters tall. The genus is noteworthy for its large, entire and strongly carinate, interpetiolar stipules and large leaf blades, up to at least 200 cm long, with the leaf surfaces being distinctly and closely striate with fine epidermal fibers.