Melanthiaceae, also called the bunchflower family, is a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

of flowering

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

perennial plants native to the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

. Along with many other lilioid monocots, early authors considered members of this family to belong to the family

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fair ...

, in part because both their sepals and petals closely resemble each other and are often large and showy like those of lilies, while some more recent taxonomists have placed them in a family Trilliaceae. The most authoritative modern treatment, however, the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fu ...

of 2009 (unchanged from the 2003

APG II system The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Gr ...

and the 1998

APG system The APG system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system) of plant classification is the first version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy. Published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, it was replaced by the improved A ...

), places the family in the order

Liliales Liliales is an order of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group and Angiosperm Phylogeny Web system, within the lilioid monocots. This order of necessity includes the family Liliaceae. The APG III system (2009) places ...

, in the clade

monocots Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, ( Lilianae '' sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of ...

. Circumscribed in this way, the family includes up to 17 genera. Familiar members of the family include the genera ''

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

'' and '' Trillium''. Veratrum californicum habitus1

Genera and species

, the

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) is an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected pla ...

accepted 17 genera in the family.Search for "Melanthiaceae", They have been divided into five tribes. It has a total of ca 173 known species. Generic assignments within the tribe

Melanthieae Melanthieae is a tribe of flowering plants within the family Melanthiaceae. Molecular phylogenetic studies in the 21st century have resulted in a large-scale reassignment of many of its species to different genera; in particular the genus '' Zi ...

in particular have been changed radically as a result of molecular phylogenetic studies in the 21st century. Some taxonomists have combined the three genera of Heloniadae into one genus (''Helonias''). ;Heloniadeae * '' Helonias'' L. * '' Heloniopsis'' A.Gray * '' Ypsilandra'' Franch. ;Chionographideae * ''

Chamaelirium ''Chamaelirium'' is a genus of flowering plants containing the single species ''Chamaelirium luteum'', commonly known as blazing-star, devil's bit, false unicorn, fairy wand, and helonias. It is a perennial herb native to the eastern United State ...

'' Willd. * '' Chionographis'' Maxim. ;

* '' Amianthium'' A.Gray * ''

Anticlea In Greek mythology, Anticlea or Anticlia (; Ancient Greek: ''Ἀντίκλεια'', literally "without fame") was a queen of Ithaca as the wife of King Laërtes. Family Anticlea was the daughter of Autolycus and Amphithea. The divine trickste ...

'' Kunth * ''

Melanthium ''Melanthium'' is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants native to North America. They are closely related to ''Veratrum'', and in fact are included in that genus by some authors. The distinction between ''Melanthium'' and ''Veratrum'' is base ...

'' J.Clayton ex L. * '' Schoenocaulon'' A.Gray * ''

Stenanthium ''Stenanthium'' is a North American genus of flowering plants in the tribe Melanthieae of the family Melanthiaceae. Featherbells is a common name for plants in this genus. Taxonomy Molecular phylogenetic studies in the 21st century have resul ...

'' (A.Gray) Kunth * ''

Toxicoscordion ''Toxicoscordion'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Melanthiaceae, tribe Melanthieae, first described as a genus in 1903. The genus is mainly distributed in the midwestern United States and western North America, with some species i ...

'' Rydb. * '' Veratrum'' L. * '' Zigadenus'' Michx. ;Xerophylleae * '' Xerophyllum'' Michx. ;Parideae * ''

'' L. (including ''Daiswa'' and ''Kinugasa'') * '' Pseudotrillium'' S.B.Farmer * '' Trillium'' L. (including ''Trillidium'')

References

External links

Melanthiaceae
n a very wide sensebr>Trilliaceae
in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards).
The families of flowering plants
descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval.'' Version: 3 May 2006. http://delta-intkey.com .
links
and mor
links
at CSDL, Texas {{Taxonbar, from=Q157234 Liliales families Taxa named by August Batsch