Citharexylum

Citharexylum is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. It contains shrub and tree species commonly known as fiddlewoods or zitherwoods. They are native to the Americas, ranging from southern Florida and Texas in the United States to Argentina. The highest diversity occurs in Mexico and the Andes. The generic name is derived from the Greek words κιθάρα (kithara), meaning "lyre", and ξύλον (xylon), meaning "wood," referring to the use of the wood in the sounding boards of string instruments. Several species, especially C. caudatum and C. spinosum, are cultivated as ornamentals.

==Species== 78 species are accepted. Citharexylum affine D.Don - from northern Mexico to Nicaragua Citharexylum alainii Moldenke - Dominican Republic Citharexylum altamiranum Greenm. - northeastern Mexico Citharexylum amabile (Bocq.) Christenh. & Byng – west-central Brazil, Paraguay, and northeastern Argentina Citharexylum andinum Moldenke - Bolivia, Jujuy Province of Argentina Citharexylum berlandieri B.L. Rob. - from Texas to Oaxaca - Berlandier's fiddlewood, Tamaulipan fiddlewood Citharexylum bourgeauanum Greenm. - Veracruz, Oaxaca Citharexylum brachyanthum (A.Gray ex Hemsl.) A.Gray - Texas, Coahuila, Nuevo León - Boxthorn fiddlewood, Mexican fiddlewood Citharexylum broadwayi O.E.Schulz - Trinidad and northeastern Venezuela Citharexylum calvum Moldenke - Quintana Roo Citharexylum caudatum L. - southern Mexico, West Indies, Central America, Colombia, Peru - Juniper berry Citharexylum cooperi Standl. - Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala Citharexylum costaricense Moldenke - Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras Citharexylum crassifolium Greenm - Chiapas, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras Citharexylum danirae León de la Luz & F.Chiang - Revillagigedo Islands of Baja California Citharexylum decorum Moldenke - Colombia, Venezuela Citharexylum dentatum D.Don - Peru Citharexylum discolor Turcz. - Cuba, Hispaniola Citharexylum donnell-smithii Greenm. - Oaxaca, Chiapas, Central America Citharexylum ekmanii Moldenke - Cuba Citharexylum ellipticum Moc. & Sessé ex D.Don - Veracruz, Campeche, Tabasco; naturalized in Cuba + Cayman Islands Citharexylum endlichii Moldenke - northeastern Mexico Citharexylum flabellifolium S.Watson - Sonora, Baja California Citharexylum flexuosum (Ruiz & Pav.) D.Don - Bolivia, Peru Citharexylum fulgidum Moldenke - Veracruz, northeastern Mexico Citharexylum glabrum (S.Watson) Greenm - Oaxaca Citharexylum guatemalense (Moldenke) D.N.Gibson - Guatemala, Nicaragua Citharexylum herrerae Mansf. - Peru Citharexylum hexangulare Greenm. - from northern Mexico to Costa Rica Citharexylum hidalgense Moldenke - Mexico Citharexylum hintonii Moldenke - México State Citharexylum hirtellum Standl. - from Veracruz to Panama Citharexylum ilicifolium Kunth - Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador Citharexylum × jamaicense Moldenke - Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico (C. caudatum × C. spinosum) Citharexylum joergensenii (Lillo) Moldenke - Argentina, Bolivia Citharexylum karstenii Moldenke - Colombia, Venezuela Citharexylum kerberi Greenm. - Veracruz Citharexylum kunthianum Moldenke - Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador Citharexylum laurifolium Hayek - Bolivia, Peru Citharexylum × leonis Moldenke - Cuba (C. caudatum × C. tristachyum) Citharexylum ligustrifolium (Thur. ex Decne.) Van Houtte - Mexico Citharexylum lucidum Cham. & Schltdl. - Mexico Citharexylum lycioides D.Don - Mexico Citharexylum macradenium Greenm. - Panama, Costa Rica Citharexylum macrochlamys Pittier - Panama, Colombia Citharexylum matheanum Borhidi & Kereszty - Cuba Citharexylum matudae Moldenke - Chiapas Citharexylum mexicanum Moldenke - Veracruz, Puebla, Oaxaca Citharexylum microphyllum (DC.) O.E.Schulz - Hisipaniola Citharexylum mocinoi D.Don - Mexico, Central America Citharexylum montanum Moldenke - Colombia, Ecuador Citharexylum montevidense (Spreng.) Moldenke - Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay Citharexylum myrianthum Cham. - Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay Citharexylum obtusifolium Kuhlm - Espírito Santo (unplaced) Citharexylum oleinum (Benth. ex Lindl.) Moldenke - Mexico Citharexylum ovatifolium Greenm. - Mexico Citharexylum peruvianum N.O'Leary & Frost - northwestern Peru Citharexylum poeppigii Walp. - Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil Citharexylum quitense Spreng. - Ecuador Citharexylum racemosum Sessé & Moc. - Mexico Citharexylum reticulatum Kunth - Ecuador, Peru Citharexylum rosei Greenm. - Mexico Citharexylum roxanae Moldenke - Baja California Citharexylum scabrum Moc. & Sessé ex D.Don - northern Mexico Citharexylum schottii Greenm. - southern Mexico, Central America Citharexylum schulzii Urb. & Ekman - Hispaniola Citharexylum sessaei D.Don - Mexico Citharexylum shrevei Moldenke - Sonora Citharexylum solanaceum Cham. - southern Brazil Citharexylum spinosum L. – Spiny fiddlewood - West Indies, Panama, Venezuela, the Guianas; naturalized in India, Mozambique, Fiji, Bermuda Citharexylum stenophyllum Urb. & Ekman - Haiti Citharexylum steyermarkii Moldenke - Veracruz, Chiapas, Guatemala Citharexylum subflavescens S.F.Blake - Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru Citharexylum subthyrsoideum Pittier - Colombia, Venezuela Citharexylum svensonii Moldenke - Ecuador Citharexylum teclense Standl. - El Salvador Citharexylum ternatum Moldenke - Cuba Citharexylum tetramerum Brandegee - Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán in Mexico Citharexylum tristachyum Turcz. – Threespike Fiddlewood - Cuba, Jamaica, Leeward Islands Citharexylum ulei Moldenke - Colombia, Peru, northwestern Brazil Citharexylum venezuelense Moldenke - Venezuela Citharexylum weberbaueri Hayek - Peru