Clusia is the type genus of the plant family Clusiaceae. Comprising 300-400 species, it is native to the tropics of the Americas. The genus is named by Carl Linnaeus in honor of the botanist Carolus Clusius. The closest relatives of Clusia are the neotropical genera Chrysochlamys, Tovomita, Dystovomita and Tovomitopsis. Together with Clusia, these genera form the tribe Clusieae, where the fruit is a fleshy capsule with arillate seeds. The distribution ranges from the Florida Keys and southern Mexico to southernmost Brazil, and from near sea level to at least 3500 m altitude in the northern Andes. Species of Clusia are a characteristic component of a number of Neotropical vegetation types, and may even be dominant, as is often seen in montane forests of the Greater Antilles. Most species are found in lowland or montane rainforests, but some occur in drier habitats such as the restingas of Brazil, caribbean coastal scrub and dry interandean valleys. A number of species are confined to rocky habitats, such as tepuis or granitic inselbergs. A few grow as scattered shrubs in paramo. The apomictic Clusia rosea is an invasive alien in Hawaii and Sri Lanka, and possibly elsewhere. Description Its species are shrubs, vines and small to medium-size trees up to 20 m tall, with evergreen foliage. Some species start life as epiphytes which grow long roots that descend to the ground and eventually strangle and kill the host tree in a manner similar to strangler figs. Many Clusia species have Crassulacean acid metabolism, which can be considered an adaptation to the often dry (micro)habitats of the genus. The plants contain variously coloured latex in stems, leaves and fruit. The leaves are simple, entire and opposite, 5–70 cm long and 2–20 cm broad. Leaf texture is usually leathery, less commonly rigid or slightly succulent. Flower size varies from ca 5 mm wide (e.g. Clusia gundlachii) to ca 150 mm in Clusia grandiflora. The 4-9 petals are white, cream, yellow, pink, red, blackish or green. Flowers are unisexual and plants are dioecious (pistillate and staminate flowers are borne on separate plants). Stamen number ranges from four to several hundred. Shape and size of stamens are extremely variable. Sterile stamens are often present, both in pistillate and staminate flowers. Stigmas are four to 16 in number and usually sessile. The fruit is a leathery valvate capsule which splits open to release several red or orange, fleshy-coated