Guettarda

Guettarda is a plant genus in the family Rubiaceae. Most of these plants are known by the common name Velvetseed. Estimates of the number of species range from about 50 to 162. Most of the species are neotropical. Twenty are found in New Caledonia and one reaches Australia. A few others are found on islands and in coastal areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Three species (G. odorata, G. scabra, G. speciosa) are known in cultivation.Guettarda argentea provides edible fruit. The type species for the genus is Guettarda speciosa. It is a tree of coastal habitats, up to 18 m (59 ft) in height. It is grown as an ornamental.

Guettarda was named by Linnaeus in 1753 in his book Species Plantarum. This generic name is in honour of the 18th century French naturalist Jean-Étienne Guettard.

The genus Guettarda is much in need of revision. Molecular phylogenetic studies have found it to be several times polyphyletic with some of its clades paraphyletic over small genera.

Species

The following species list may be incomplete or contain synonyms.