Myristicaceae Temporal range: | |
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Myristica fragrans (Nutmeg), Koehler (1887) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Magnoliids |
Order: | Magnoliales |
Family: | Myristicaceae R.Br. [2] |
Genera | |
See text |
The Myristicaceae are a family of flowering plants native to Africa, Asia, Pacific islands, and the Americas [3] and has been recognized by most taxonomists. It is sometimes called the "nutmeg family", after its most famous member, Myristica fragrans , the source of the spices nutmeg and mace. The best known genera are Myristica in Asia and Virola in the Neotropics.
The family consists of about 21 genera with about 520 species [4] of trees, shrubs and rarely lianas ( Pycnanthus ) found in tropical forests around the world. Most of the species are large trees that are valued in the timber industry.
They are typically trees with reddish sap and distinctive pagoda-like growth (known as myristicaceous branching) in which horizontal branching only occurs at certain nodes along the main axis of the trunk, each node separated by a large gap where no branching occurs. All genera are dioecious, except Endocomia and some Iryanthera . The inner bark is usually pink to reddish or light colored then oxidizing as such. When cut, the tree trunk exudes a red or orange resin; stems and young twigs often will exude clear sap (not colored) that may smell spicy. The foliage is generally spicy-aromatic and the leaves are glossy, dark green, simple, entire, 2-ranked, undersides often whitish or tomentose, with dark brown punctations or not, usually with complex caducous hairs colored golden yellow to red. The flowers are usually small, highly reduced, fragrant, with 3-5 tepals, inner perianth whitish-green, yellow, orange, reddish-pink to rusty-brown, arranged in axillary paniculate inflorescences or unbranched wart-like structures (like Knema ). The female flowers are without staminodes, with stigmas often lobed. The male flowers with fused stamens arranged in a synandrium. Pollen is monosulcate, often boat-shaped.
The fruit is a leathery dehiscent capsule, with rusty indument or not, [5] containing a single seed that is arillate or not; when present, the aril variously laciniate or entire. In most genera, the aril is colored red but also can be orange or white and translucent. The single seed has ruminate endosperm and is uniform in color or rarely with black blotches ( Compsoneura ).
Many species within the family exhibit highly complex phytochemistry with numerous compounds having been described from the leaves, bark, fruits, arils, and seeds of many species.
In the APG IV system of 2016, Myristaceae are placed in the order Magnoliales in the magnoliids clade. [6] The genera placed in the family are related as shown in the following cladogram:[ citation needed ]
Myristicaceae |
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As of July 2018 [update] , the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website accepted the following genera: [7]
Myristicaceae are found in humid lowland forests, swamp forests, submontane forests, and cloud forests at elevations up to 2100 m. Some of the anatomical characters presented by this family suggest that in the past they could live in xeric (dry) environments, but now their species are linked to tropical rainforests.[ citation needed ]
The species present anthesis at night, and pollination is usually carried out by small beetles from the Anthicidae family that resemble ants and consume pollen (e.g., Myristica fragrans is probably pollinated by the beetle Formicomus braminus ). [8] The strong floral scent that attracts beetles emerges from the ends of the connectives of the stamens. However, Myristica is probably pollinated by true ants, a case of myrmecophily.[ citation needed ]
A few New Guinea Myristica species have evolved hollow stem swellings in which ants reside. This facilitates a mutualistic relationship known as myrmecophily, and is similar to that of Cecropia . [9]
The most important products of the family by far are the nutmeg and mace spices, both derived from respectively the seed and aril of Myristica fragrans , a tree native to the Moluccas. A hallucinogenic snuff (containing a derivative of tryptamine) that is used by certain Amazonian tribes is obtained from the bark of Virola elongata and other closely related species. The wood of some Asian and American species has local commercial use, as is the case of Otoba parvifolia in South America.
Essential oils of Myristicaceae have antifungal action and antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus mutans .[ citation needed ] The dark-red resin of the tree bark in some genera, such as Virola , contains several hallucinogenic alkaloids. Myristicin poisoning can induce convulsions, palpitations, nausea, eventual dehydration, and generalized body pain.[ citation needed ] It is also reputed to be a strong deliriant, [10] and some fatal myristicin poisonings in humans have occurred. [11]
A fossil seed of †Myristicacarpum chandlerae from the early Eocene London Clay flora of southern England is the earliest record of Myristicaceae. [12]
The Laurales are an order of flowering plants. They are magnoliids, related to the Magnoliales.
The Magnoliales are an order of flowering plants.
Canellales is the botanical name for an order of flowering plants, one of the four orders of the magnoliids. It is recognized by the most recent classification of flowering plants, the APG IV system. It is defined to contain two families: Canellaceae and Winteraceae, which comprise 136 species of fragrant trees and shrubs. The Canellaceae are found in tropical America and Africa, and the Winteraceae are part of the Antarctic flora. Although the order was defined based on phylogenetic studies, a number of possible synapomorphies have been suggested, relating to the pollen tube, the seeds, the thickness of the integument, and other aspects of the morphology.
Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from that seed, of several tree species of the genus Myristica; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, and mace, from the seed covering. It is also a commercial source of nutmeg essential oil and nutmeg butter. Indonesia is the main producer of nutmeg and mace, and the true nutmeg tree is native to its islands.
The Buxales are a small order of eudicot flowering plants, recognized by the APG IV system of 2016. The order includes the family Buxaceae; the families Didymelaceae and Haptanthaceae may also be recognized or may be included in the Buxaceae. Many members of the order are evergreen shrubs or trees, although some are herbaceous perennials. They have separate "male" (staminate) and "female" (carpellate) flowers, mostly on the same plant. Some species are of economic importance either for the wood they produce or as ornamental plants.
The Canellaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Canellales. The order includes only one other family, the Winteraceae. Canellaceae is native to the Afrotropical and Neotropical realms. They are small to medium trees, rarely shrubs, evergreen and aromatic. The flowers and fruit are often red.
Austrobaileya is the sole genus consisting of a single species that constitutes the entire flowering plant family Austrobaileyaceae. The species Austrobaileya scandens grows naturally only in the Wet Tropics rainforests of northeastern Queensland, Australia.
Virola is a genus of medium-sized trees native to the South American rainforest and closely related to other Myristicaceae, such as nutmeg. Species are known commonly as epená, patricá, or cumala. They have glossy, dark green leaves and clusters of tiny yellow flowers, and may emit a pungent odor.
Myristica is a genus of trees in the family Myristicaceae. There are over 150 species, distributed in Asia and the western Pacific.
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.
Trimeniaceae is a family of flowering plants recognized by most taxonomists, at least for the past several decades. It is a small family of one genus, Trimenia, with eight known species of woody plants, bearing essential oils. The family is subtropical to tropical and found in Southeast Asia, eastern Australia and on several Pacific Islands.
Knema globularia or seashore nutmeg is a species of plant in the family Myristicaceae. It is a tree found in Cambodia, China, India and Southeast Asia. It grows on rocky and sandy coasts, riverbanks, and lowland forests.
Myristica malabarica is a species of plant in the family Myristicaceae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats in southwest India. It is threatened by habitat loss according to the IUCN Red List. It can reach up to 25 m long and its bark is greenish black, smooth and sometimes reddish.
Virola sebifera is a species of tree in the family Myristicaceae, from North and South America.
Magnoliids are a clade of flowering plants. With more than 10,000 species, including magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, tulip tree and many others, it is the third-largest group of angiosperms after the eudicots and monocots. The group is characterized by trimerous flowers, pollen with one pore, and usually branching-veined leaves.
Myristica fragrans is an evergreen tree indigenous to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It is important as the main source of the spices nutmeg and mace. It is widely grown across the tropics including Guangdong and Yunnan in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Grenada in the Caribbean, Kerala in India, Sri Lanka and South America.
Pycnanthus is a genus of flowering plants in the nutmeg family, Myristicaceae. There are 4 species, all native to tropical Africa. Some species are lianescent, an unusual feature in this family which is otherwise composed of hardwood trees.
Endocomia is a genus of flowering trees in the family Myristicaceae with a distribution ranging from Indochina to New Guinea. It is distinguished from the other Asian genera by its monoecious inflorescences which are unique in the mostly dioecious Myristicaceae. The only other place where monoecy is reported in the family is in a few Iryanthera species in South America.
Doyleanthus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Myristicaceae. The only species is Doyleanthus arillata.
Myristica insipida, commonly known in Australia as Australian nutmeg, Queensland nutmeg or native nutmeg, is a small rainforest tree in the family Myristicaceae native to parts of Malesia, Papuasia and Australia. It is closely related to the commercially-important species of nutmeg, M. fragrans.