Parsonsia is a genus of woody vines in the family Apocynaceae. Species occur throughout Indomalaya, Australasia and Melanesia.

Description

The leaves are opposite, the shape and size of juvenile leaves often bearing little resemblance to the adult leaves. The latex may be clear and colourless, pale yellow or milky white. The flowers are green, white, cream, yellow, orange, red, pink or brown, sometimes with contrasting markings. These are followed by elongated pod-like capsules, the two follicles eventually separating to reveal numerous seeds with long, silky hairs.

Taxonomy

The genus was named and described in 1810 by botanist Robert Brown in his paper On the Asclepiadeae published in Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society. He named the genus in honour of James Parsons (1705–1770), an English physician and Fellow of the Royal Society. The generic name Parsonsia R.Br. (1810) is conserved against the earlier homonym Parsonsia P.Browne which was given to a genus in the family Lythraceae. The latter genus is now included in Cuphea. Parsonsia is closely related to Artia and Prestonia.

Species

Accepted species • # Parsonsia affinis Baill. – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia alboflavescens (Dennst.) Mabb. – China, Taiwan, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia. • # Parsonsia apiculata D.J.Middleton • # Parsonsia aneityensis Guillaumin – Vanuatu • # Parsonsia apiculata (Bakh.f.) D.J.Middleton – Java, Bali • # Parsonsia appressa D.J.Middleton – Papua New Guinea • # Parsonsia bartlensis J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia blakeana J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia brachiata Baillon ex Guillaumin – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia brisbanensis J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia brownii (Britten) Pichon – SE Australia • # Parsonsia buruensis (Teijsm. & Binn.) Boerl. – Maluku, Papua New Guinea • # Parsonsia capsularis (Forster f.) R. Br. – New Zealand • # Parsonsia catalpicarpa – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia celebica (Oliv.) Sleesen – W Malaysia, Borneo, Sulawesi • # Parsonsia constricta D.J.Middleton – W New Guinea • # Parsonsia crebriflora Baill. – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia curvisepala K. Schum. – Perak, Sulawesi, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Philippines • # Parsonsia densiflora D.J.Middleton – Papua New Guinea • # Parsonsia densivestita C.T.White – Queensland • # Parsonsia diaphanophleba F.Muell. – Western Australia • # Parsonsia dorrigoensis J.B.Williams – New South Wales • # Parsonsia edulis (G. Benn.) Guillaumin – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia effusa S. Moore – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia eucalyptophylla F.Muell. – E Australia • # Parsonsia ferruginea J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia flavescens Merr. & L.M. Perry – New Guinea • # Parsonsia flexilis Baill. – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia flexuosa Baill. – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia franchetii Baill. ex Guillaumin – New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands • # Parsonsia fulva S.T.Blake – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia goniostemon Hand.-Mazz. – Guangxi • # Parsonsia grandiflora D.J.Middleton – Bacan I in Maluku • # Parsonsia grayana J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia hebetica Markgr. – Papua New Guinea • # Parsonsia × heterocapsa Allan – New Zealand • # Parsonsia heterophylla A. Cunn. – New Zealand • # Parsonsia howeana J.B.Williams – Lord Howe Island • # Parsonsia inae Guillaumin – Vanuatu • # Parsonsia induplicata F.Muell. – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia kimberleyensis J.B.Williams – Western Australia • # Parsonsia kroombitensis J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia laevis – Fiji, Vanuatu • # Parsonsia lanceolata R.Br. – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia langiana F.Muell. – Queensland • # Parsonsia larcomensis J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia largiflorens (F.Muell. ex Benth.) S.T.Blake – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia lata Markgr.

• Maluku, New Guinea, Solomon Is • # Parsonsia latifolia (Benth.) S.T.Blake – Queensland • # Parsonsia laxiflora Guillaumin – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia leichhardtii F.Muell. – Queensland • # Parsonsia lenticellata C.T.White – Queensland • # Parsonsia lilacina F.Muell. – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia longiflora Guillaumin – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia longiloba D.J.Middleton – New Ireland • # Parsonsia longipetiolata J.B.Williams – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia macrophylla Pichon ex Guillaumin. – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia marginata Markgr. – New Guinea • # Parsonsia novoguinensis D.J.Middleton – New Guinea • # Parsonsia oligantha (K.Schum.) D.J.Middleton – New Guinea • # Parsonsia pachycarpa Guillaumin – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia paulforsteri J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia pedunculata Markgr. – Bismarck Archipelago • # Parsonsia penangiana King & Gamble – Penang, Thailand • # Parsonsia philippinensis Merr. – Philippines, Java, Borneo, W Malaysia, Thailand • # Parsonsia plaesiophylla S.T.Blake – Queensland • # Parsonsia populifolia Baill. – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia praeruptis Heads & P.J.de Lange – North I of New Zealand • # Parsonsia purpurascens J.B.Williams – New South Wales • # Parsonsia rotata Maiden & Betche – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia rubra Kaneh. & Hatus. J. – Maluku, New Guinea • # Parsonsia sanguinea Markgr. – New Guinea • # Parsonsia sankowskyana J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia scabra (Labill.) Markgr. – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia schoddei D.J.Middleton – Papua New Guinea • # Parsonsia smithii Markgr. – Vanua Levu in Fiji • # Parsonsia straminea (R.Br.) F.Muell. – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia sundensis D.J.Middleton – East Timor • # Parsonsia tenuiflora D.J.Middleton – W New Guinea • # Parsonsia tenuis S.T.Blake – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia terminaliifolia Guillaumin – New Caledonia • # Parsonsia vaccinoides Markgr. – W New Guinea • # Parsonsia velutina R.Br. – Timor, Maluku, Australia, New Guinea • # Parsonsia ventricosa F.Muell. – Queensland, NSW • # Parsonsia warenensis Kanehira & Hatusima – Papua New Guinea • # Parsonsia wildensis J.B.Williams – Queensland • # Parsonsia wongabelensis J.B.Williams - Queensland

Cultivation

A species from New Zealand, Parsonsia variablis (Variable-leaved Parsonsia), was introduced into cultivation in England in 1847 as a greenhouse plant and was noted to have a sweet scent, however the flowers were regarded as "not very showy". This species is thought to be a form of Parsonsia heterophylla.