2.8. 9. Malpighia Plum. ex L., Sp. Pl. 425. 1753.

Fig. 10 J – L

= Rudolphia Medik., Malvenfam.: 111. 1787. Type species: Rudolphia edulis Medik. (= Malpighia urens L. subsp. urens).

Type species.

Malpighia glabra Plum. ex L.

Notes.

Malpighia comprises 110 currently accepted species (85 threatened species; Suppl. material 1) of treelets or shrubs endemic to rainforests and seasonally dry tropical forests from South America (Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela) to Central (Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panamá, Puerto Rico, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Islands, and Windward Islands) and North America (Mexico and United States of America; POWO 2024). For identification keys for all species of Malpighia, see the monographs by Vivaldi (1979) and Meyer (2000), the studies of González-Gutiérrez and Meyer (2019) for Cuba, and Pool (2023) for Mesoamerica.