Elaeocarpaceae Temporal range: | |
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Crinodendron hookerianum | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Oxalidales |
Family: | Elaeocarpaceae Juss. ex DC. [2] |
Genera | |
See text |
Elaeocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family contains approximately 615 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera. [3] [4] The largest genera are Elaeocarpus , with about 350 species, and Sloanea , with about 120. [5] [6]
The species of Elaeocarpaceae are mostly tropical and subtropical, with a few temperate-zone species. Most species are evergreen. They are found in Madagascar, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, and South America. [5] [6]
Plants in this family have simple leaves, usually arranged alternately, sometimes in opposite pairs or whorled often clustered at the ends of the branches, usually with a toothed edge but sometimes reduced to scales. The flowers are arranged in leaf axils, singly or in groups and are radially symmetrical. The flowers usually have both male and female organs, four or five sepals and four or five petals. In some genera there are twice as many stamens as petals and in others there may be many stamens. In most species the anther is much longer than the filament of the stamen. The fruit is a capsule, a drupe or a berry. [7]
A phylogeny of the family, based on DNA sequences was published in 2006. [8]
Twelve genera of Elaeocarpaceae are accepted by Plants of the World Online as at August 2021: [9]
Ranunculaceae is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide.
Geraniaceae is a family of flowering plants placed in the order Geraniales. The family name is derived from the genus Geranium. The family includes both the genus Geranium and the garden plants called geraniums, which modern botany classifies as genus Pelargonium, along with other related genera.
Lythraceae is a family of flowering plants, including 32 genera, with about 620 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees. The larger genera include Cuphea, Lagerstroemia (56), Nesaea (50), Rotala (45), and Lythrum (35). It also includes the pomegranate and the water caltrop. Lythraceae has a worldwide distribution, with most species in the tropics, but ranging into temperate climate regions as well.
The Primulaceae, commonly known as the primrose family, are a family of herbaceous and woody flowering plants including some favourite garden plants and wildflowers. Most are perennial though some species, such as scarlet pimpernel, are annuals.
Gesneriaceae, the gesneriad family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of about 152 genera and ca. 3,540 species in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World and the New World, with a very small number extending to temperate areas. Many species have colorful and showy flowers and are cultivated as ornamental plants.
The Cistaceae are a small family of plants known for their beautiful shrubs, which are profusely covered by flowers at the time of blossom. This family consists of about 170(-200) species in nine genera that are not very distinct, distributed primarily in the temperate areas of Europe and the Mediterranean basin, but also found in North America; a limited number of species are found in South America. Most Cistaceae are subshrubs and low shrubs, and some are herbaceous. They prefer dry and sunny habitats. Cistaceae grow well on poor soils, and many of them are cultivated in gardens.
Alstroemeriaceae is a family of flowering plants, with 254 known species in four genera, almost entirely native to the Americas, from Central America to southern South America. One species of Luzuriaga occurs in New Zealand, and the genus Drymophila is endemic to south-eastern Australia.
Hypericaceae is a plant family in the order Malpighiales, comprising six to nine genera and up to 700 species, and commonly known as the St. John's wort family. Members are found throughout the world apart from extremely cold or dry habitats. Hypericum and Triadenum occur in temperate regions but other genera are mostly tropical.
Hydrocharitaceae is a flowering plant family including 16 known genera with a total of ca 135 known species, that including a number of species of aquatic plant, for instance the tape-grasses, the well known Canadian waterweed, and frogbit.
The Polygalaceae or the milkwort family are made up of flowering plants in the order Fabales. They have a near-cosmopolitan range, with about 27 genera and ca. 900 known species of herbs, shrubs and trees. Over half of the species are in one genus, Polygala, the milkworts.
Elaeocarpus is a genus of nearly five hundred species of flowering plants in the family Elaeocarpaceae native to the Western Indian Ocean, Tropical and Subtropical Asia, and the Pacific. Plants in the genus Elaeocarpus are trees or shrubs with simple leaves, flowers with four or five petals usually, and usually blue fruit.
Commelinaceae is a family of flowering plants. In less formal contexts, the group is referred to as the dayflower family or spiderwort family. It is one of five families in the order Commelinales and by far the largest of these with about 731 known species in 41 genera. Well known genera include Commelina (dayflowers) and Tradescantia (spiderworts). The family is diverse in both the Old World tropics and the New World tropics, with some genera present in both. The variation in morphology, especially that of the flower and inflorescence, is considered to be exceptionally high amongst the angiosperms.
Costaceae, known as the Costus family or spiral gingers, is a family of pantropical monocots. It belongs to the order Zingiberales, which contains horticulturally and economically important plants such as the banana (Musaceae), bird-of-paradise (Strelitziaceae), and edible ginger (Zingiberaceae). The seven genera in Costaceae together contain about 143 known species. They are native to tropical climates of Asia, Africa, Central America, and South America. Several species are frequently found in cultivation.
Sabiaceae is a family of flowering plants that were placed in the order Proteales according to the APG IV system. It comprises three genera, Meliosma, Ophiocaryon and Sabia, with 66 known species, native to tropical to warm temperate regions of southern Asia and the Americas. The family has also been called Meliosmaceae Endl., 1841, nom. rej.
Chloranthaceae is a family of flowering plants (angiosperms), the only family in the order Chloranthales. It is not closely related to any other family of flowering plants, and is among the early-diverging lineages in the angiosperms. They are woody or weakly woody plants occurring in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Madagascar, Central and South America, and the West Indies. The family consists of four extant genera, totalling about 77 known species according to Christenhusz and Byng in 2016. Some species are used in traditional medicine. The type genus is Chloranthus. The fossil record of the family, mostly represented by pollen such as Clavatipollenites, extends back to the dawn of the history of flowering plants in the Early Cretaceous, and has been found on all continents.
Chrysobalanaceae is a family of flowering plants, consisting of trees and shrubs in 27 genera and about 700 species of pantropical distribution with a centre of diversity in the Amazon. Some of the species contain silica in their bodies for rigidity and so the mesophyll often has sclerenchymatous idioblasts. The widespread species Chrysobalanus icaco produces a plum-like fruit and the plant is commonly known as the coco plum.
Elatinaceae is a family of flowering plants with ca 35 species in two genera: Elatine and Bergia. The Elatine are mostly aquatic herbs, and the Bergia are subshrubs to shrubs. Elatine species are widely distributed throughout the world from temperate to tropical zones, with its greatest diversity found in temperate zones. Bergia is found in temperate to tropical Eurasia and Africa, with two tropical and one tropical to temperate species in the Americas. The center for biodiversity of Bergia is the Old World tropics, and this is also the center for biodiversity for the family. Neither genus is found in arctic ecosystems.
Pittosporaceae is a family of flowering plants that consists of 200–240 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in 9 genera. Habitats range from tropical to temperate climates of the Afrotropical, Indomalayan, Oceanian, and Australasian realms. The type genus is Pittosporum Banks ex Gaertn.
Haloragaceae is a eudicot flowering plant family in the order Saxifragales, based on the phylogenetic APG system. In the Cronquist system, it was included in the order Haloragales.
Lepidobotryaceae is a family of plants in the order Celastrales. It contains only two species: Lepidobotrys staudtii and Ruptiliocarpon caracolito.