The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species
of herbs,
vine
A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...
s,
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...
s and small
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s, belonging to the order
Celastrales. The great majority of the
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
are
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
, with only ''Celastrus'' (the staff vines), ''Euonymus'' (the
spindles) and ''Maytenus'' widespread in
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...
climates, and ''
Parnassia'' (bog-stars) found in alpine and arctic climates.
Of the 97 currently recognized genera of the family Celastraceae, 19 are native to Madagascar and these include at least 57 currently recognized species. Six of these 19 genera (''
Brexiella'', ''
Evonymopsis'', ''
Hartogiopsis'', ''
Polycardia'', ''
Ptelidium'', and ''
Salvadoropsis'') are endemic to Madagascar.
Genera
A complete list of the genera is:
* ''
Acanthothamnus''
* ''
Allocassine''
* ''
Anthodon''
* ''
Apatophyllum''
* ''
Apodostigma''
* ''
Arnicratea''
* ''
Bequaertia''
* ''
Brassiantha''
* ''
Brexia''
* ''
Brexiella''
* ''
Campylostemon''
* ''
Canotia
''Canotia holacantha'', also known as crucifixion thorn or simply canotia, is a flowering shrub / small tree in the family Celastraceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Canotia''.
Distribution
The plant is native to the higher elevation de ...
'' – crucifixion thorn
* ''
Cassine''
* ''
Catha'' –
khat
* ''
Celastrus'' – staff vine or staff tree
* ''
Cheiloclinium''
* ''
Crocoxylon''
* ''
Crossopetalum
''Crossopetalum'', commonly known as Christmas-berries or maiden berries, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. It comprises about 30-40 species.
Description
''Crossopetalum'' taxa are shrubs or trees, with opposite or wh ...
''
* ''
Cuervea''
* ''
Denhamia''
* ''
Dicarpellum''
* ''
Dinghoua''
* ''
Elachyptera''
* ''
Elaeodendron''
* ''
Empleuridium''
* ''
Euonymus
''Euonymus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the staff vine family, Celastraceae. Common names vary widely among different species and between different English-speaking countries, but include spindle (or spindle tree), burning-bush, strawb ...
'' – spindle
* ''
Evonymopsis''
* ''
Fraunhofera''
* ''
Gloveria''
* ''
Glyptopetalum''
* ''
Goniodiscus''
* ''
Gyminda''
* ''
Gymnosporia
''Gymnosporia'' is an Old World genus of plants, that comprise suffrutices, shrubs and trees. It was formerly considered congeneric with ''Maytenus'', but more recent investigations separated it based on the presence of achyblasts (truncated bra ...
''
* ''
Hartogiella''
* ''
Hartogiopsis''
* ''
Hedraianthera''
* ''
Helictonema''
* ''
Hexaspora''
* ''
Hippocratea''
* ''
Hylenaea''
* ''
Hypsophila''
* ''
Kokoona''
* ''
Lauridia''
* ''
Lepuropetalon''
* ''
Loeseneriella
''Loeseneriella'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Celastraceae.
Its native range is Tropical and Subtropical Old World. It is found in the countries and regions of Andaman Is., Angola, Assam, Bangladesh, Benin, Bismarck Ar ...
''
* ''
Lophopetalum''
* ''
Lydenburgia''
* ''
Macgregoria''
* ''
Maurocenia''
* ''
Maytenus'' – maiten
* ''
Menepetalum''
* ''
Microtropis''
* ''
Monimopetalum''
* ''
Mortonia''
* ''
Moya''
* ''
Mystroxylon''
* ''
Nicobariodendron''
* ''
Orthosphenia''
* ''
Parnassia''
* ''
Paxistima''
* ''
Peripterygia
''Peripterygia marginata'' is a species of shrubs in the family Celastraceae
The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales. ...
''
* ''
Peritassa''
* ''
Plagiopteron
''Plagiopteron'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Celastraceae.
Its native range is Southeastern China to Indo-China
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental por ...
''
* ''
Platypterocarpus''
* ''
Plenckia''
* ''
Pleurostylia''
* ''
Polycardia''
* ''
Pottingeria''
* ''
Prionostemma''
* ''
Pristimera''
* ''
Psammomoya''
* ''
Pseudocatha''
* ''
Pseudosalacia''
* ''
Ptelidium''
* ''
Pterocelastrus''
* ''
Putterlickia''
* ''
Quetzalia''
* ''
Reissantia''
* ''
Robsonodendron''
* ''
Rzedowskia''
* ''
Salacia''
* ''
Salacighia
''Salacighia'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Celastraceae
The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celast ...
''
* ''
Salaciopsis
''Salaciopsis'' is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the family Celastraceae
The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastra ...
''
* ''
Salvadoropsis''
* ''
Sarawakodendron''
* ''
Scandivepres''
* ''
Schaefferia''
* ''
Semialarium
''Semialarium'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Celastraceae
The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celas ...
''
* ''
Simicratea
''Simicratea'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek language, Greek ...
''
* ''
Simirestis''
* ''
Siphonodon
''Siphonodon'' is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae.
Species
The Catalogue of Life
The Catalogue of Life is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. ...
''
* ''
Stackhousia''
* ''
Tetrasiphon''
* ''
Thyrosalacia''
* ''
Tontelea
''Tontelea'' is a genus of plants in the family Celastraceae
The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order Celastrales. The great majo ...
''
* ''
Torralbasia''
* ''
Tricerma''
* ''
Tripterococcus''
* ''
Tripterygium''
* ''
Tristemonanthus
''Tristemonanthus'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Celastraceae
The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 97 genera and 1,350 species of herbs, vines, shrubs and small trees, belonging to the order ...
''
* ''
Wimmeria''
* ''
Xylonymus''
* ''
Zinowiewia''
; Fossil genera
* †''
Celastrinites''
References
University of Maryland: Cronquist Family Synonymy for Celastraceae
Rosid families
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)
{{Celastraceae-stub