sentences:  At global, national and regional government scales, many "Helicia" species have been threatened with extinction, as officially recognised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and by continental, national and local governments.Sixteen species have official IUCN global conservation statuses of either "critically endangered", "endangered", "vulnerable" or "near threatened" (in terms of global extinction).In 1790, notable pioneer botanist João de Loureiro described this genus as "Helicia" in his publication "Flora Cochinchinensis".