Citharexylum is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. It contains shrub and tree species commonly known as fiddlewoods or zitherwoods. They are native to the Americas, ranging from southern Florida and Texas in the United States to Argentina. The highest diversity occurs in Mexico and the Andes. The generic name is derived from the Greek words κιθάρα (kithara), meaning "lyre", and ξύλον (xylon), meaning "wood," referring to the use of the wood in the sounding boards of string instruments. Several species, especially C. caudatum and C. spinosum, are cultivated as ornamentals.

Species

78 species are accepted.

1. Citharexylum affine D.Don - from northern Mexico to Nicaragua

2. Citharexylum alainii Moldenke - Dominican Republic

3. Citharexylum altamiranum Greenm. - northeastern Mexico

4. Citharexylum amabile (Bocq.) Christenh. & Byng – west-central Brazil, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina

5. Citharexylum andinum Moldenke - Bolivia, Jujuy Province of Argentina

6. Citharexylum berlandieri B.L. Rob. - from Texas to Oaxaca - Berlandier's fiddlewood, Tamaulipan fiddlewood

7. Citharexylum bourgeauanum Greenm. - Veracruz, Oaxaca

8. Citharexylum brachyanthum (A.Gray ex Hemsl.) A.Gray - Texas, Coahuila, Nuevo León - Boxthorn fiddlewood, Mexican fiddlewood

9. Citharexylum broadwayi O.E.Schulz - Trinidad and northeastern Venezuela

10. Citharexylum calvum Moldenke - Quintana Roo

11. Citharexylum caudatum L. - southern Mexico, West Indies, Central America, Colombia, Peru - Juniper berry

12. Citharexylum cooperi Standl. - Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala

13. Citharexylum costaricense Moldenke - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras

14. Citharexylum crassifolium Greenm - Chiapas, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras

15. Citharexylum danirae León de la Luz & F.Chiang - Revillagigedo Islands of Baja California

16. Citharexylum decorum Moldenke - Colombia, Venezuela

17. Citharexylum dentatum D.Don - Peru

18. Citharexylum discolor Turcz. - Cuba, Hispaniola

19. Citharexylum donnell-smithii Greenm. - Oaxaca, Chiapas, Central America

20. Citharexylum ekmanii Moldenke - Cuba

21. Citharexylum ellipticum Moc. & Sessé ex D.Don - Veracruz, Campeche, Tabasco; naturalized in Cuba + Cayman Islands

22. Citharexylum endlichii Moldenke - northeastern Mexico

23. Citharexylum flabellifolium S.Watson - Sonora, Baja California

24. Citharexylum flexuosum (Ruiz & Pav.) D.Don - Bolivia, Peru

25. Citharexylum fulgidum Moldenke - Veracruz, northeastern Mexico

26. Citharexylum glabrum (S.Watson) Greenm - Oaxaca

27. Citharexylum guatemalense (Moldenke) D.N.Gibson - Guatemala, Nicaragua

28. Citharexylum herrerae Mansf. - Peru

29. Citharexylum hexangulare Greenm. - from northern Mexico to Costa Rica

30. Citharexylum hidalgense Moldenke - Mexico

31. Citharexylum hintonii Moldenke - México State

32. Citharexylum hirtellum Standl. - from Veracruz to Panama

33. Citharexylum ilicifolium Kunth - Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador

34. Citharexylum × jamaicense Moldenke - Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico (C. caudatum × C. spinosum)

35. Citharexylum joergensenii (Lillo) Moldenke - Argentina, Bolivia

36. Citharexylum karstenii Moldenke - Colombia, Venezuela

37. Citharexylum kerberi Greenm. - Veracruz

38. Citharexylum kunthianum Moldenke - Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador

39. Citharexylum laurifolium Hayek - Bolivia, Peru

40. Citharexylum × leonis Moldenke - Cuba (C. caudatum × C. tristachyum)

41. Citharexylum ligustrifolium (Thur. ex Decne.) Van Houtte - Mexico

42. Citharexylum lucidum Cham. & Schltdl. - Mexico

43. Citharexylum lycioides D.Don - Mexico

44. Citharexylum macradenium Greenm. - Panama, Costa Rica

45. Citharexylum macrochlamys Pittier - Panama, Colombia

46. Citharexylum matheanum Borhidi & Kereszty - Cuba

47. Citharexylum matudae Moldenke - Chiapas

48. Citharexylum mexicanum Moldenke - Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca

49. Citharexylum microphyllum (DC.) O.E.Schulz - Hisipaniola

50. Citharexylum mocinoi D.Don - Mexico, Central America

51. Citharexylum montanum Moldenke - Colombia, Ecuador

52. Citharexylum montevidense (Spreng.) Moldenke - Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay

53. Citharexylum myrianthum Cham. - Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay

54. Citharexylum obtusifolium Kuhlm - Espírito Santo (unplaced)

55. Citharexylum oleinum (Benth. ex Lindl.) Moldenke - Mexico

56. Citharexylum ovatifolium Greenm. - Mexico

57. Citharexylum peruvianum N.O'Leary & Frost - northwestern Peru

58. Citharexylum poeppigii Walp. - Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil

59. Citharexylum quitense Spreng. - Ecuador

60. Citharexylum racemosum Sessé & Moc. - Mexico

61. Citharexylum reticulatum Kunth - Ecuador, Peru

62. Citharexylum rosei Greenm. - Mexico

63. Citharexylum roxanae Moldenke - Baja California

64. Citharexylum scabrum Moc. & Sessé ex D.Don - northern Mexico

65. Citharexylum schottii Greenm. - southern Mexico, Central America

66. Citharexylum schulzii Urb. & Ekman - Hispaniola

67. Citharexylum sessaei D.Don - Mexico

68. Citharexylum shrevei Moldenke - Sonora

69. Citharexylum solanaceum Cham. - southern Brazil

70. Citharexylum spinosum L. Spiny fiddlewood - West Indies, Panama, Venezuela, the Guianas; naturalized in India, Mozambique, Fiji, Bermuda

71. Citharexylum stenophyllum Urb. & Ekman - Haiti

72. Citharexylum steyermarkii Moldenke - Veracruz, Chiapas, Guatemala

73. Citharexylum subflavescens S.F.Blake - Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru

74. Citharexylum subthyrsoideum Pittier - Colombia, Venezuela

75. Citharexylum svensonii Moldenke - Ecuador

76. Citharexylum teclense Standl. - El Salvador

77. Citharexylum ternatum Moldenke - Cuba

78. Citharexylum tetramerum Brandegee - Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán in Mexico

79. Citharexylum tristachyum Turcz. Threespike Fiddlewood - Cuba, Jamaica, Leeward Islands

80. Citharexylum ulei Moldenke - Colombia, Peru, northwestern Brazil

81. Citharexylum venezuelense Moldenke - Venezuela

82. Citharexylum weberbaueri Hayek - Peru

Formerly placed here

• Rehdera trinervis (as Citharexylum lemsii Moldenke)

• Rhaphithamnus spinosus (Juss.) Moldenke (as Citharexylum cyanocarpum Hook. & Arn.)

• Rhaphithamnus venustus (as Citharexylum elegans Phil. ex Miers)

References

External links