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Phylica
Also called Hardleaves
Phylica is a genus of plants in the family Rhamnaceae. It contains about 150 species, the majority of which are restricted to South Africa, where they form part of the fynbos. A few species occur in other parts of southern Africa, and on islands including Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, Île Amsterdam, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha, and Gough Island. Phylica piloburmensis from the Burmese amber of Myanmar, dating to around 99 million years ago during the mid-Cretaceous, was originally described as the oldest fossil member of the genus, but subsequent studies contested its assignment to the genus Phylica and even to the family Rhamnaceae, with one study placing it in the separate genus Nothophylica.
The genus name Phylica comes from the Greek φυλλικός (phullikόs) "of leaves, concerning leaves", as the stems are densely leafy in most of the species.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Phylica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
