Plectroniella is a monotypic genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the Rubiaceae

Rubiaceae

The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

. It was descripted by Walter Robyns

Frans Hubert Edouard Arthur Walter Robyns

Frans Hubert Edouard Arthur Walter Robyns, known as Walter Robyns, was a Belgian botanist.After two long stays in Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, travels in central Africa and taxonomic work on many groups of tropical African plants, amongst others Rubiaceae, grasses and legumes, he became director of...

 in 1928. The genus contains only one species, i.e. Plectroniella armata, which is found in southern Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

 and nordeastern South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The species is characterized by the presence of large spines and is morphologically similar to Canthium

Canthium

Canthium is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny.-Distribution:They are native to India, Sri Lanka, and tropical East Africa.-Taxonomy:...

. In 2004, a molecular phylogenetic study

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

 showed that Plectroniella armata is related to Canthium ciliatum and the transfer of the genus to Canthium

Canthium

Canthium is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. They are shrubs and small trees. The leaves are deciduous and the stems are usually thorny.-Distribution:They are native to India, Sri Lanka, and tropical East Africa.-Taxonomy:...

was suggested.