Hypericaceae

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Hypericaceae
Temporal range: Eocene–recent [1]
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Possible Late Cretaceous record
Hypericum quadrangulum0.jpg
Hypericum tetrapterum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Hypericaceae
Juss. [2]
Genera

See text

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.

Contents

Characteristics

Members of this family are annual or perennial herbs, subshrubs or shrubs. The leaves are simple and entire, in opposite pairs; they are sometimes dotted with black or translucent glandular spots. The inflorescence consists of a branched, flat-topped cluster, each flower being radially symmetrical, with a superior ovary. Flowers have the following components: sepals, four or five, which tend to persist; petals four or five, usually yellow, sometimes dotted with black specks; stamens many, on long filaments; styles, three to five, often fused at the base. The fruit has a dehiscent capsule which splits open when ripe to release the fine black seed. [3]

Taxonomy

At one time, this family was accepted as a subfamily of the family Clusiaceae. Now it has been elevated to full family status. In Phytotaxa , six genera and around 590 species are listed, [4] whereas The Plant List recognises nine genera and around 700 species. Members of the family are found worldwide except in excessively cold or dry areas. Most of the genera are mainly tropical, but Hypericum and Triadenum are found in temperate regions. [5] Molecular data supports the monophyly of Hypericaceae. [6]

When accepted as a complete family, the cladogram of Hypericaceae would appear as such:

Hypericaceae

Pharmacology

Common St. John's wort Saint John's wort flowers.jpg
Common St. John's wort

Many members of this family contain the naphthodianthrone derivatives hypericin and pseudohypericin; these are contained in glandular tissues that appear as black, orange or translucent spots or lines on petals, leaves and other parts of the plant. These compounds are photosensitive and can cause reactions in grazing animals, such as blistering of the muzzle, as well as in people who come into contact with the plants over prolonged periods. [5] The highest concentration of these substances occurs in common St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), which is used in herbalism and as a folk remedy. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hypericum perforatum</i> Flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum perforatum, commonly known as St John's wort, is a flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is a perennial plant that grows up to one meter tall, with many yellow flowers that have clearly visible black glands around their edges, long stamens, and three pistils. Probably a hybrid between the closely related H. attenuatum and H. maculatum that originated in Siberia, the species is now found worldwide. It is native to temperate regions across Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of North and South America. In many areas where it is not native, H. perforatum is considered a noxious weed. It densely covers open areas to the exclusion of native plants, and is poor grazing material. As such, methods for biocontrol have been introduced in an attempt to slow or reverse the spread of the species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geraniaceae</span> Family of plants

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salicaceae</span> Family of plants

The Salicaceae are the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family included the willows, poplars, aspens, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly expanded the circumscription of the family to contain 56 genera and about 1220 species, including the tropical Scyphostegiaceae and many of the former Flacourtiaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clusiaceae</span> Family of mainly tropical flowering plants

The Clusiaceae or GuttiferaeJuss. (1789) are a family of plants including 13 genera and ca 750 species. Several former members of Clusiacae are now placed in Calophyllaceae and Hypericaceae. They are mostly trees and shrubs, with milky sap and fruits or capsules for seeds. The family is primarily tropical. More so than many plant families, it shows large variation in plant morphology. According to the APG III, this family belongs to the order Malpighiales.

<i>Hypericum</i> Genus of flowering plants known as St. Johns worts

Hypericum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae. The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. Many Hypericum species are regarded as invasive species and noxious weeds. All members of the genus may be referred to as St. John's wort, and some are known as goatweed. The white or pink flowered marsh St. John's worts of North America and eastern Asia are generally accepted as belonging to the separate genus TriadenumRaf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elaeocarpaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Elaeocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family contains approximately 615 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera. The largest genera are Elaeocarpus, with about 350 species, and Sloanea, with about 120.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Podostemaceae</span> Family of aquatic plants

Podostemaceae, a family in the order Malpighiales, comprise about 50 genera and c. 300 species of more or less thalloid aquatic herbs.

<i>Hypericum tetrapterum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae

Hypericum tetrapterum is a herbaceous perennial plant species in the flowering plant family Hypericaceae. Its common names include St. Peter's wort, Peterwort, square stemmed St. John's wort, and square stalked St. John's wort.

<i>Triadenum</i> Genus of plants

Triadenum, known as marsh St. John's worts, is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae. The genus is characterized by opposite, blunt-tipped leaves and pink flowers with 9 stamens. They are distributed in North America and eastern Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elatinaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peridiscaceae</span> Family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales

Peridiscaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. Four genera comprise this family: Medusandra, Soyauxia, Peridiscus, and Whittonia., with a total of 12 known species. It has a disjunct distribution, with Peridiscus occurring in Venezuela and northern Brazil, Whittonia in Guyana, Medusandra in Cameroon, and Soyauxia in tropical West Africa. Whittonia is possibly extinct, being known from only one specimen collected below Kaieteur Falls in Guyana. In 2006, archeologists attempted to rediscover it, however, it proved unsuccessful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schoepfiaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Schoepfiaceae is a family of flowering plants recognized in the APG III system of 2009. The family was previously only recognized by few taxonomists; the plants in question usually being assigned to family Olacaceae and Santalaceae.

<i>Hypericum maculatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum maculatum, commonly known as imperforate St John's-wort, or spotted St. Johnswort, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae. It is native to Europe and Western Asia where it grows in moist meadows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lepidobotryaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Lepidobotryaceae is a family of plants in the order Celastrales. It contains only two species: Lepidobotrys staudtii and Ruptiliocarpon caracolito.

<i>Hypericum humifusum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum humifusum is a prostrate flowering plant in the St. John's wort family Hypericaceae commonly known as trailing St John's-wort. It is found in Western Europe.

<i>Hypericum hirsutum</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum hirsutum is a species of flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae, commonly known as hairy St John's-wort. It is found in Western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peraceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Peraceae Klotzsch is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. The family was segregated from the Euphorbiaceae by Johann Friedrich Klotzsch in 1859, and its uniqueness was affirmed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's Euphorbiaceae expert, Airy Shaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypericum fraseri</span> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Triadenum fraseri, commonly known as bog St. John's wort, Fraser's St. John's wort, and Fraser's marsh St. John's wort, is a perennial flowering plant in the family Hypericaceae that grows in wetlands of Canada and the northern United States. It is named after John Fraser (1750–1811), a Scottish botanist and widely travelled plant collector.

<i>Hypericum sampsonii</i> Species of flowering plant in the St Johns wort family Hypericaceae

Hypericum sampsonii is a species of flowering plant in the St. John's wort family, Hypericaceae. It occurs in China, Taiwan, Japan, Myanmar, and Vietnam. It is one of two species of Hypericum in the section Hypericum sect. Sampsonia.

References

  1. "Malpighiales". www.mobot.org. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  2. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III" (PDF). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x . Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  3. "Hypericaceae (St. John's-wort) family". Go Botany. New England Wildflower Society. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  4. Christenhusz, M. J. M.; Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. 261 (3): 201–217. doi: 10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1 .
  5. 1 2 Robson, Norman K.B. "Hypericaceae Jussieu: St John's Wort Family". Flora of North America. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  6. Kenneth J. Wurdack; Charles C. Davis (2009), "Malpighiales phylogenetics: Gaining ground on one of the most recalcitrant clades in the angiosperm tree of life", American Journal of Botany, 96 (8): 1551–1570, doi:10.3732/ajb.0800207, PMID   21628300, S2CID   23284896
  7. "St. John's Wort". National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, US National Institutes of Health. September 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2018.