The Malpighiales comprise one of the largest orders of flowering plants, containing about 36 families and more than 16,000 species, about 7.8% of the eudicots. [1] [2] The order is very diverse, containing plants as different as the willow, violet, poinsettia, manchineel, rafflesia and coca plant, and are hard to recognize except with molecular phylogenetic evidence. It is not part of any of the classification systems based only on plant morphology. Molecular clock calculations estimate the origin of stem group Malpighiales at around 100 million years ago (Mya) and the origin of crown group Malpighiales at about 90 Mya. [3]
The anthophytes are a grouping of plant taxa bearing flower-like reproductive structures. They were formerly thought to be a clade comprising plants bearing flower-like structures. The group contained the angiosperms - the extant flowering plants, such as roses and grasses - as well as the Gnetales and the extinct Bennettitales. [4]
23,420 species of vascular plant have been recorded in South Africa, making it the sixth most species-rich country in the world and the most species-rich country on the African continent. Of these, 153 species are considered to be threatened. [5] Nine biomes have been described in South Africa: Fynbos, Succulent Karoo, desert, Nama Karoo, grassland, savanna, Albany thickets, the Indian Ocean coastal belt, and forests. [6]
The 2018 South African National Biodiversity Institute's National Biodiversity Assessment plant checklist lists 35,130 taxa in the phyla Anthocerotophyta (hornworts (6)), Anthophyta (flowering plants (33534)), Bryophyta (mosses (685)), Cycadophyta (cycads (42)), Lycopodiophyta (Lycophytes(45)), Marchantiophyta (liverworts (376)), Pinophyta (conifers (33)), and Pteridophyta (cryptogams (408)). [7]
20 families are represented in the literature. Listed taxa include species, subspecies, varieties, and forms as recorded, some of which have subsequently been allocated to other taxa as synonyms, in which cases the accepted taxon is appended to the listing. Multiple entries under alternative names reflect taxonomic revision over time.
Family: Achariaceae, [7]
Genus Ceratiosicyos : [7]
Genus Kiggelaria : [7]
Family: Chrysobalanaceae, [7]
Family: Clusiaceae, [7]
Family: Dichapetalaceae, [7]
Genus Dichapetalum : [7]
Family: Elatinaceae, [7]
Family: Erythroxylaceae, [7]
Genus Erythroxylum : [7]
Genus Nectaropetalum : [7]
Family: Euphorbiaceae, [7] 47 genera have been recorded. Not all are necessarily currently accepted.
Family: Hypericaceae, [7]
Family: Malpighiaceae, [7]
Genus Acridocarpus : [7]
Genus Sphedamnocarpus : [7]
Genus Brackenridgea : [7]
Family: Passifloraceae, [7]
Genus Basananthe : [7]
Genus Passiflora : [7]
Genus Schlechterina : [7]
Family: Phyllanthaceae, [7]
Genus Cleistanthus : [7]
Genus Hymenocardia : [7]
Genus Lachnostylis : [7]
Genus Margaritaria : [7]
Genus Phyllanthus : [7]
Genus Pseudolachnostylis : [7]
Family: Picrodendraceae, [7]
Genus Androstachys : [7]
Genus Hyaenanche : [7]
Family: Podostemaceae, [7]
Genus Leiothylax : [7]
Genus Sphaerothylax : [7]
Family: Putranjivaceae, [7]
Family: Rhizophoraceae, [7]
Genus Cassipourea : [7]
Genus Rhizophora : [7]
Family: Salicaceae, [7]
Genus Flacourtia : [7]
Genus Pseudoscolopia : [7]
Family: Turneraceae, [7]
Genus Streptopetalum : [7]
Genus Tricliceras : [7]
The anthophytes are a grouping of plant taxa bearing flower-like reproductive structures. They were formerly thought to be a clade comprising plants bearing flower-like structures. The group contained the angiosperms - the extant flowering plants, such as roses and grasses - as well as the Gnetales and the extinct Bennettitales.