Chrysobalanaceae is a family of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s, consisting of trees and
shrub
A shrub or 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 trees by their multiple ...
s in 27 genera and about 700 species
of
pantropical distribution with a
centre of diversity in the Amazon. Some of the species contain
silica
Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant f ...
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.
The family was traditionally placed as subfamily Chrysobalanoideae in the rose family (
Rosaceae
Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera.
The name is derived from the type genus '' Rosa''. The family includes herbs, shrubs, and trees. Most species are deciduous, but som ...
) or as a family in the rose order and exceptionally as an order in
Myrtiflorae by Dahlgren In the phenotypic cladistic analysis of Nandi et al., it branched with
Elaeagnaceae as sister group of
Polygalaceae, in their molecular cladistic analysis it was in
Malpighiales
The Malpighiales comprise one of the largest Order (biology), orders of flowering plants. The order is very diverse, with well-known members including willows, Viola (plant), violets, aspens and Populus, poplars, Euphorbia pulcherrima, poinsett ...
and also in their combined analysis.
[Nandi, O.L., Chase, M.W., & Endress, P.K. 1998. A combined cladistic analysis of angiosperms using rbcL and non-molecular data sets. Ann. Missouri Bol. Gard. 85: 137-212(docstoc.com).]
Genera
,
Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
History
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...
accepted the following genera:
*''
Acioa''
Aubl.
*''
Afrolicania''
Mildbr.
*''
Angelesia''
Korth.
*''
Atuna''
Raf.
*''
Bafodeya''
Prance ex F.White
*''
Chrysobalanus''
L.
*''
Cordillera
A cordillera is a chain or network of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope').
The term is most commonly used in physical geogra ...
''
Sothers & Prance
*''
Couepia''
Aubl.
*''
Dactyladenia''
Welw.
*''
Exellodendron''
Prance
*''
Gaulettia''
Sothers & Prance
*''
Geobalanus
''Geobalanus'' is a genus of flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; ' ...
''
Small
*''
Grangeria''
Comm. ex Juss.
*''
Hirtella''
L.
*''
Hunga''
Prance
*''
Hymenopus''
(Benth.) Sothers & Prance
*''
Kostermanthus''
Prance
*''
Leptobalanus''
(Benth.) Sothers & Prance
*''
Licania
''Licania'' is a genus of over 100 species of trees and shrubs in the family Chrysobalanaceae. Species are found naturally occurring in neotropical forests from southern Mexico to Brazil and the Lesser Antilles. Due to increased deforestation an ...
''
Aubl.
*''
Magnistipula''
Engl.
*''
Maranthes''
Blume
*''
Microdesmia''
(Benth.) Sothers & Prance
*''
Moquilea''
Aubl.
*''
Neocarya''
(DC.) Prance ex F.White
*''
Parastemon''
A.DC.
*''
Parinari''
Aubl.
*''
Parinariopsis''
(Huber) Sothers & Prance
References
*F. Carnevale Neto et al.: Chrysobalanaceae: secondary metabolites, ethnopharmacology and pharmacological potential, "Phytochemistry Reviews" (online), 2012
Chrysobalanaceae,
Malpighiales families
Pantropical flora
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)
{{Malpighiales-stub