Wrightia is a 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 23 species 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 Apocynaceae

Apocynaceae

The Apocynaceae or dogbane family is a family of flowering plants that includes trees, shrubs, herbs, and lianas.Many species are tall trees found in tropical rainforests, and most are from the tropics and subtropics, but some grow in tropical dry, xeric environments. There are also perennial herbs...

 (dogbane) family, native to tropical Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The species are all small tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s or shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s.

The genus was named for William Wright

William Wright (botanist)

William Wright was a Scottish physician and botanist.Born in March 1735 in Crieff, Perthshire, he studied at Crieff Grammar School and the University of Edinburgh, and obtained a medical degree at St. Andrews . He served as an apprentice with G Dennistoun in Falkirk , and became a navy surgeon in...

 (1735 –1819) the Scottish physician and botanist by William Roxburgh

William Roxburgh

William Roxburgh was a Scottish surgeon and botanist. He has been called the Father of Indian Botany.-Early life:Roxburgh was born at Underwood in the parish of Craigie, Ayrshire. He studied medicine in Edinburgh...

.

Wrightia antidysenterica

Wrightia antidysenterica

Wrightia antidysenterica, the coral swirl, is a flowering plant in the genus Wrightia.Wrightia antidysenterica is sometimes mistaken to belong to a separate genus Holarrhena, as Holarrhena pubescens. It's been long known in Indian Ayurvedic tradition, and is called " kuţaja " in Sanskrit....

 is sometimes mistaken to belong to a separate genus Holarrhena, as Holarrhena pubescens. It's been long known in Indian Ayurvedic tradition, and is called " kuţaja " in Sanskrit.