Ayenia is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It includes 216 species of subshrubs, shrubs, small trees, and lianas. They are native to the tropical Americas and southwestern United States, tropical Africa, and tropical Asia.

Description

Ayenia includes subshrubs, shrubs, small trees, and lianas. The genus is distinguished by its tiny yet extraordinarily complex flowers.

Ecology

Species of Ayenia grow in diverse habitats, from open areas in dry and seasonally-dry regions to humid forests, river banks, and from lowlands to high elevations. Byttneria species are host plants to insects such as beetles of the genus Lonchophorellus.

Taxonomy

Ayenia, Byttneria, and Rayleya were formerly described as separate genera, with Ayenia having a Neotropical distribution, Byttneria as a Pantropical genus, and Rayleya as a monotypic genus with a single Brazilian species, Rayleya bahiensis. A phylogenetic analysis found that Byttneria was paraphyletic and Ayenia was nested within it, and Rayleya was a sister clade to the others. In 2018 Christenhusz and Byng transferred the Byttneria and Rayleya names to Ayenia, which had nomenclatural priority.

Selected species

216 species are currently accepted. Selected species include: