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Crossberries

Grewia

Also called Crossberry, Donkeyberries, Wild Raisins

Crossberries
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0
Family
Malvaceae (Mallow family)

About

Grewia is a large flowering plant genus in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. Formerly, Grewia was placed in either the family Tiliaceae or the Sparrmanniaceae. However, these were both not monophyletic with respect to other Malvales - as already indicated by the uncertainties surrounding placement of Grewia and similar genera - and have thus been merged into the Malvaceae. Together with the bulk of the former Sparrmanniaceae, Grewia is in the subfamily Grewioideae and therein the tribe Grewieae, of which it is the type genus.

The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus, in honor of the botanist Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712) from England. Grew was one of the leading plant anatomists and microscope researchers of his time, and his study of pollen laid the groundwork for modern-day palynology.

Where it grows

Several Lepidoptera caterpillars are found to feed on Grewia species. These include the common nawab (Polyura athamas) and the swift moth Endoclita malabaricus. The Bucculatricidae leaf miner Bucculatrix epibathra is apparently only found on G. tiliaefolia.

Other Grewia plants

Grewia aldabrensis · Phalsa · White raisin · Grewia bilocularis · Grewia bulot · Grewia emarginata · Grewia ferruginea · Brandy Bush · Donkey Berry · Grewia glandulosa · Grewia goetzeana · Giant raisin

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Grewia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

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