Which genus of plant had more species identified with it in the past, Carissa or Aruncus?
Carissa Carissa is a genus of shrubs or small trees native to tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Australia and Asia. Until recently about 100 species were listed, but most of them have been relegated to the status of synonyms or assigned to other genera, such as "Acokanthera".
Beech Beech ("Fagus") is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America. Recent classification systems of the genus recognize ten to thirteen species in two distinct subgenera, "Engleriana" and "Fagus". The "Engleriana" subgenus is found only in East Asia, and is notably distinct from the "Fagus" subgenus in that these beeches are low-branching trees, often made up of several major trunks with yellowish bark. Further differentiating characteristics include the whitish bloom on the underside of the leaves, the visible tertiary leaf veins, and a long, smooth cupule-peduncle. "Fagus japonica", "Fagus engleriana", and the species "F. okamotoi", proposed by the botanist Chung-Fu Shen in 1992, comprise this subgenus. The better known "Fagus" subgenus beeches are high-branching with tall, stout trunks and smooth silver-grey bark. This group includes "Fagus sylvatica", "Fagus grandifolia", "Fagus crenata", "Fagus lucida", "Fagus longipetiolata", and "Fagus hayatae". The classification of the European beech, "Fagus sylvatica" is complex, with a variety of different names proposed for different species and subspecies within this region (for example "Fagus taurica", "Fagus orientalis", and "Fagus moesica"). Research suggests that beeches in Eurasia differentiated fairly late in evolutionary history, during the Miocene. The populations in this area represent a range of often overlapping morphotypes, though genetic analysis does not clearly support separate species.