Sherardointia

Note: This is a fictional genus created for illustrative purposes in an encyclopedia-style entry.

Sherardointia is a fictional genus of flowering plants described within speculative floras of the misty montane forests of the imagined continent of Eldoria. It is a monotypic genus, containing a single species, Sherardointia relicata. In the fictional taxonomy, it is placed in the family Sherardointiaceae, within the order Malpighiales.

The genus was said to have been first collected during an 1884 expedition by the botanist Lysandra Sherardoint, after whom the genus is named. The species is portrayed as having a limited distribution and is kept in in-world herbarium records and field guides. The taxonomy is commonly presented as part of a self-contained ecosystem in worldbuilding references rather than an actual regional flora.

Sherardointia relicata is described as a small to medium shrub or subcanopy tree, reaching up to about 4 meters in height. Leaves are opposite, simple, and ovate with a glossy dark-green surface. Flowers are solitary or in loose panicles, with tubular corollas in shades of lilac to deep purple. The fruit is a fleshy berry containing several small seeds, each with a pale aril that aids in dispersal by birds.

Habitat and distribution: In the narrative ecology, Sherardointia relicata grows in cool, moist montane forests between 900 and 1800 meters, often on rich, well-drained soils with partial shade. Ecologically, it is described as insect- and bird-pollinated, with seed dispersal primarily by frugivorous birds and small mammals.

Etymology and cultural note: The name honors the fictional botanist Henry Sherardoint and combines his surname with the plant-form suffix -ia. The entry appears in simulated herbarium catalogs and in-world field guides.