When the

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 ...

plant classification The history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lo ...

was published in April 2003, fifteen

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 ...

and three

families 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 ...

were placed

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertain ...

in the

angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of br ...

, and were listed in a section of the appendix entitled "Taxa of uncertain position". By the end of 2009,

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis of

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

s had revealed the

relationships Relationship most often refers to: * Family relations and relatives: consanguinity * Interpersonal relationship, a strong, deep, or close association or acquaintance between two or more people * Correlation and dependence, relationships in mathem ...

of most of these

taxa In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

, and all but three of them had been placed in some

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

within the angiosperms. In October 2009, APG II was superseded by 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 ...

.Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009)
An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III
''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' 161(2): 105-121. In APG III, 11 of the genera listed above were placed in families, or else became families whose position within their orders was approximately or exactly known. The family Rafflesiaceae was placed in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Malpighiales The Malpighiales comprise one of the largest orders of flowering plants, containing about 36 families and more than species, about 7.8% of the eudicots. The order is very diverse, containing plants as different as the willow, violet, poinse ...

, close to

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...

and possibly within it. ''Mitrastema'' became a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

family, Mitrastemonaceae. This family and Balanophoraceae were placed ''incertae sedis'' into orders, that is, their positions within these orders remained completely unknown. ''Metteniusa'' was found to belong to a supraordinal group known as the

lamiids In the APG IV system (2016) for the classification of flowering plants, the name asterids denotes a clade (a monophyletic group). Asterids is the largest group of flowering plants, with more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flower ...

, which has not been satisfactorily divided into orders. ''Cynomorium'' was raised to familial status as Cynomoriaceae, and along with Apodanthaceae and ''Gumillea'', remained unplaced in APG III. Five taxa were unplaced among the angiosperms in APG III because ''

Nicobariodendron ''Nicobariodendron'' is a genus in the family Celastraceae, with only one species, ''Nicobariodendron sleumeri'', a tree with simple, alternately set, entire leaves, small flowers and single seed fleshy fruits. It is only known from the Nicobar I ...

'' and ''

Petenaea ''Petenaea cordata'' (from northern Central America) was first described in Elaeocarpaceae and later placed in Tiliaceae, but most authors have been uncertain about its familial affinities. It was considered a taxon ''incertae sedis'' in the Angi ...

'' were added to the list.

''Leptaulus''

There is no apparent reason for the inclusion of ''Leptaulus'' in the list of unplaced taxa, other than the time lag between submission and publication. In 2001, in a phylogenetic

study Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Observational study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study (art), a drawing or series of drawin ...

based on morphological and DNA data, ''Leptaulus'' was found to belong to a group of six genera that most authors now consider to be the family

Cardiopteridaceae Cardiopteridaceae is a eudicot family of flowering plants. It consists of about 43 species of trees, shrubs, and woody vines, mostly of the tropics, but with a few in temperate regions.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Ala ...

.Jesper Kårehed. 2001. "Multiple origin of the tropical forest tree family Icacinaceae". ''American Journal of Botany'' 88(12):2259-2274. This was confirmed in a study of

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of ligni ...

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...

in 2008.Frederick Lens, Jesper Kårehed, Pieter Baas, Steven Jansen, David Rabaey, Suzy Huysmans, Thomas Hamann, and Eric Smets. 2008. "The wood anatomy of the polyphyletic Icacinaceae s.l. and their relationships within asterids". ''Taxon'' 57(2):525-552. The genus is placed in the Cardiopteridaceae in the

of 2009. Before 2001, ''Leptaulus'' and the rest of Cardiopteridaceae had usually been placed in a broadly

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every po ...

Icacinaceae The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family of flowering plants,"Icacinaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website (see ''External links'' below). consisting of trees, shrubs, and lianas, pr ...

, which turned out to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

. Some botanists do not recognize Cardiopteridaceae as a family of six genera. Instead, they

segregate Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

Cardiopteris ''Cardiopteris'' is a genus of vines in the family Cardiopteridaceae described as a genus in 1834. ''Cardiopteris'' is native to Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, and New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , histo ...

'' into a monogeneric Cardiopteridaceae

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

and place the other five genera in the family Leptaulaceae.Timothy M.A. Utteridge and Richard K. Brummitt. 2007. "Leptaulaceae" pages 191-192. In: Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada. (2007). The

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gr ...

of Leptaulaceae has never been tested with molecular data.

''Pottingeria''

It had long been thought, at least by some, that the small

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

n tree ''Pottingeria'' might belong in the order

Celastrales The Celastrales are an order of flowering plants found throughout the tropics and subtropics, with only a few species extending far into the temperate regions. The 1200"Lepidobotryaceae", "Parnassiaceae", and "Celastraceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki (ed ...

.Herbert K. Airy-Shaw, David F. Cutler, and Siwert Nilsson. 1973. "''Pottingeria'', its taxonomic position, anatomy, and palynology". ''Kew Bulletin'' 28(1):97-104. In a phylogenetic study of that order in 2006, ''Pottingeria'' was found to be a member of the order, but not of any of its families. It was in an unresolved pentatomy consisting of

Parnassiaceae Parnassiaceae Gray were a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Celastrales.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada. (2007). The ...

, ''

Pottingeria ''Pottingeria'' is a genus consisting of a single species, ''Pottingeria acuminata'', a small tree or large shrub native to mountainous areas of southeast Asia ( Assam, Myanmar, and Thailand). It had long been thought, at least by some, to belon ...

'', '' Mortonia'', the pair (''

Quetzalia ''Quetzalia'' are a genus of flowering plants in the staff vine and bittersweet family Celastraceae, disjunctly distributed in Mexico, Central America, and Brazil. They can be trees, shrubs or lianas. Cyrus Longworth Lundell split them off from ...

'' + ''

Zinowiewia ''Zinowiewia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. It includes 14 species native to the tropical Americas, ranging from northeastern Mexico to French Guiana and Bolivia. 14 species are accepted: * '' Zinowiewia australis'' ...

''), and the other genera of

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 majority of the genera are tropical, with only ''Celastrus'' (the s ...

. When the APG III system was published in October 2009, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group expanded Celastraceae to include all members of the pentatomy mentioned above.Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards)
Celastrales
a

/ref>

''Dipentodon''

''Dipentodon'' has one species ''Dipentodon sinicus''.Jinshuang Ma and Bruce Bartholomew. 2008. "Dipentodontaceae" pages 494-495. In: Zhengyi Wu, Peter H. Raven, and Deyuan Hong (editors). ''Flora of China'' volume 11. Science Press: Beijing, China; Missouri Botanical Garden Press: St. Louis, Missouri, USA. It is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

to southern China,

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, and northern

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada. (2007). . In 2009, in a molecular phylogenetic study of the order

Huerteales Huerteales is the botanical name for an order of flowering plants.Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Huerteales". In: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. In: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below) It is one of the 17 orders t ...

, it was shown that ''

Dipentodon Dipentodon is a genus of flowering plants in the family Dipentodontaceae. Its only species, ''Dipentodon sinicus'', is a small, deciduous tree native to southern China, northern Myanmar, and northern India.Jinshuang Ma and Bruce Bartholomew. 200 ...

'' and ''

Perrottetia ''Perrottetia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Dipentodontaceae described as a family in 1824. Species occur in China, Southeast Asia, Papuasia, Hawaii, Australia, and Latin America. It is the largest genus of the recently descr ...

'' belong together as the two genera of the family

Dipentodontaceae ''Dipentodontaceae'' is a family of flowering plants containing two genera. # ''Dipentodon'' Dunn - southern China, Assam, Myanmar # ''Perrottetia'' Kunth in F.W.H.von Humboldt - southern China, Southeast Asia, Papuasia, Queensland, Hawaii, Lati ...

.Andreas Worberg, Mac H. Alford, Dietmar Quandt, and Thomas Borsch. 2009. "Huerteales sister to Brassicales plus Malvales, and newly circumscribed to include ''Dipentodon, Gerrardina, Huertea, Perrottetia,'' and ''Tapiscia''". ''Taxon'' 58(2):468-478.

''Medusandra'' and ''Soyauxia''

In 2009, in a molecular phylogenetic study of

, Kenneth Wurdack and Charles Davis sampled five genera and one family that had been unplaced in APG II. They placed some of these for the first time and confirmed the previous placement of others with strong statistical support. In their

outgroup Outgroup may refer to: * Outgroup (cladistics), an evolutionary-history concept * Outgroup (sociology) In sociology and social psychology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contras ...

, they included four genera from

Saxifragales The Saxifragales (saxifrages) are an order of flowering plants (Angiosperms). They are an extremely diverse group of plants which include trees, shrubs, perennial herbs, succulent and aquatic plants. The degree of diversity in terms of vege ...

. These were ''

Daphniphyllum ''Daphniphyllum'' is the sole genus in the flowering plant family Daphniphyllaceae and was described as a genus in 1826. The genus includes evergreen shrubs and trees mainly native to east and southeast Asia, but also found in the Indian Subconti ...

Medusandra ''Medusandra'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Peridiscaceae."Peridiscaceae" At: Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see external links below) It has two species, '' ...

Soyauxia ''Soyauxia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Peridiscaceae.Clemens Bayer. 2007. "Peridiscaceae" pages 297-300. In: Klaus Kubitski (editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume IX. Springer-Verlag: Berlin;Heidelberg ...

'', and ''

Peridiscus ''Peridiscus lucidus'' is a species of flowering plant, the only species in the genus ''Peridiscus'', which is one of four genera within the family Peridiscaceae. It grows in Venezuela and northern Brazil, in evergreen, sometimes riverine forests ...

''. In their phylogeny, ''Medusandra'' and ''Soyauxia'' formed a strongly supported clade with ''Peridiscus'', a member of the family

Peridiscaceae Peridiscaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales.Peter F. Stevens. 2001 onwards. "Peridiscaceae". At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below). Four genera comprise ...

, the most

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

clade in Saxifragales. Wurdack and Davis recommended that ''Medusandra'' and ''Soyauxia'' both be transferred to Peridiscaceae. Thus the monogeneric family Medusandraceae is subsumed into Peridiscaceae. ''Soyauxia'' had been found to be close to ''Peridiscus'' in another study two years before.Douglas E. Soltis, Joshua W. Clayton, Charles C. Davis, Matthew A. Gitzendanner, Martin Cheek, Vincent Savolainen, André M. Amorim, and Pamela S. Soltis. 2007. "Monophyly and relationships of the enigmatic family Peridiscaceae". ''Taxon'' 56(1):65-73. Wurdack and Davis also found that the family Rafflesiaceae and the genera ''

Aneulophus ''Aneulophus'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Erythroxylaceae. Its native range is Western Central Tropical Africa Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic re ...

'', ''

Centroplacus ''Centroplacus'' is a genus of the family Centroplacaceae. It was formerly classified in the Phyllanthaceae and given its own tribe, the Centroplaceae. It contains a single species, ''Centroplacus glaucinus''. General information ''C. glaucin ...

'', and ''

Trichostephanus ''Trichostephanus'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Salicaceae The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cot ...

'' belong in the order Malpighiales.

''Aneulophus''

''Aneulophus'' consists of two species of

woody plant A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposite to herbaceous plants that die back to the ground until s ...

s from

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 ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mau ...

.David J. Mabberley. 2008. ''Mabberley's Plant-Book'' third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK. (see ''External links'' below). Wurdack and Davis found the traditional placement of ''Aneulophus'' in

Erythroxylaceae Erythroxylaceae (the coca family) is a family of flowering trees and shrubs consisting of 4 genera and 271 species. The four genera are '' Aneulophus'' Benth., '' Erythroxylum'' P.Browne, '' Nectaropetalum'' Engl., and '' Pinacopodium'' Exell & ...

to be correct. Its position within the family remains uncertain. Erythroxylaceae is a family of four genera. ''

Erythroxylum ''Erythroxylum'' (''Erythroxylon'') is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Erythroxylaceae. Many of the approximately 200 species contain the substance cocaine,Bieri S, Brachet A, Veuthey J, Christen P. Cocaine distribution in wild ...

'' has about 230 species. ''

Nectaropetalum ''Nectaropetalum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Erythroxylaceae. Its native range is Somalia to Southern Africa, and Madagascar. Species Species: *''Nectaropetalum acuminatum'' *''Nectaropetalum capense'' *''Nectarop ...

'' has eight species and ''

Pinacopodium ''Pinacopodium'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Erythroxylaceae. Its native range is Western Central Tropical Africa. Species: *''Pinacopodium congolense'' *''Pinacopodium gabonense ''Pinacopodium'' is a genus of flow ...

'' has two. No one has yet produced a molecular phylogeny of the family.

''Centroplacus''

''Centroplacus'' has a single species, ''Centroplacus glaucinus'', a tree from West Africa. It was found to be close to ''

Bhesa ''Bhesa'' is a small genus of woody plants in the family Centroplacaceae. Its natural distribution is from southern China to New Guinea. It was formerly classified in Celastraceae, until a molecular phylogenetic study placed it in the family Cen ...

'', a genus that had only recently been removed from Celastrales. ''Bhesa'' was grouped with ''Centroplacus'' to become the second genus in Centroplacaceae. ''Bhesa'' consists of five species of trees from

and

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. ...

''Trichostephanus''

''Trichostephanus'' has two species, both in tropical West Africa. It had usually been assigned to

Achariaceae Achariaceae is a family of flowering plants consisting of 32-33 genera with about 155 species of tropical herbs, shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs ...

, but it was found to be deeply embedded in

Samydaceae Samydaceae is a family of tropical and subtropical woody plants, its best known genus being '' Casearia''. It has always been of uncertain placement, in the past usually being submerged in the family Flacourtiaceae. A 2002 paper included the Sa ...

.Mac H. Alford. 2007
Samydaceae
Version 6 February 2007. A
The Tree of Life Project
Many

taxonomists In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

do not recognize Samydaceae as a separate family from

Salicaceae The Salicaceae is the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') included the willows, poplar, aspen, and cottonwoods. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly ...

Rafflesiaceae

Several genera have been removed from Rafflesiaceae, so that it now consists of only three genera: ''

Sapria ''Sapria'' is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. It grows within roots of ''Vitis'' and '' Tetrastigma''. The genus is limited to the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. The flowers of ''Sapria'' are abo ...

'', ''

Rhizanthes ''Rhizanthes'' is a genus of four species of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. They are without leaves, stems, roots, or photosynthetic tissue, and grow within the roots of a few species of ''Tetrastigma'' vines. The genus i ...

'', and ''

Rafflesia ''Rafflesia'' () is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. The species have enormous flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host plants; one species has the largest flowers ...

''. All of these are holoparasites and, as discussed below, finding their relationships by molecular phylogenetics has presented special challenges. ''Rafflesia'' and its relatives were the subject of several papers from 2004 to 2009, and as the world's largest flower, ''Rafflesia'' has attracted special interest. In 2009, Wurdack and Davis confirmed earlier work in which it was found that Rafflesiaceae is nested within

, a circumscription of Euphorbiaceae that excludes

Phyllanthaceae Phyllanthaceae is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae.Kenneth J. Wurdack and Charles C. Davis. 2009. "Malpighiales phylogenetics: Gaining ground on one of the ...

Picrodendraceae Picrodendraceae is a family of flowering plants, consisting of 80 species in 24 genera.Stephens, P.F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/ These are subtropical to tropica ...

Putranjivaceae Putranjivaceae is a rosid family that is composed of 218 species in 2 genera of evergreen tropical trees that are found mainly in the Old World tropics, but with a few species in tropical America. Members of this family have 2-ranked coriaceo ...

Pandaceae The family Pandaceae consists of three genera that were formerly recognized in the Euphorbiaceae. Those are: *'' Galearia'' (from tribe Galearieae, subfamily Acalyphoideae, family Euphorbiaceae) *'' Microdesmis'' (from tribe Galearieae, subfamily ...

, and a few other very small groups that had been included in it until the 1990s.Charles C. Davis, Maribeth Latvis, Daniel L. Nickrent, Kenneth J. Wurdack, and David A. Baum. 2007. "Floral Gigantism in Rafflesiaceae". ''Science'' 315(5820):1812. In order to preserve Rafflesiaceae, Wurdack and Davis split Euphorbiaceae sensu stricto into Euphorbiaceae

sensu strictissimo ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the word sense, sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any p ...

and

Peraceae Peraceae Klotzsch is a family of flowering plants in the eudicot order Malpighiales. The family was segregated from the Euphorbiaceae by Johann Friedrich Klotzsch in 1859, and its uniqueness was affirmed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's Euph ...

, a new family comprising ''Pera'' and four other genera.

Parasites

Four of the unplaced genera, and all three of the unplaced families of APG II consist of

achlorophyllous Myco-heterotrophy (from Greek μύκης , "fungus", ἕτερος ', "another", "different" and τροφή ', "nutrition") is a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food fr ...

holoparasites. In these, the

chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it ...

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

s that are usually used in phylogenetic studies of angiosperms have become nonfunctional

pseudogene Pseudogenes are nonfunctional segments of DNA that resemble functional genes. Most arise as superfluous copies of functional genes, either directly by DNA duplication or indirectly by reverse transcription of an mRNA transcript. Pseudogenes are ...

s. If these evolve rapidly, they may be saturated with repeated

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, m ...

s at the same site and consequently not be useful for phylogenetic reconstruction. The relationships of some parasitic taxa have been elucidated in studies of

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space * Nuclear ...

and

mitochondrial A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is us ...

DNA sequences. But these sequences sometimes produce artifactual

topologies In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ...

in the phylogenetic tree, because

horizontal gene transfer Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between unicellular and/or multicellular organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring ( reproduction). ...

often occurs between parasites and their

hosts A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places *Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County People * Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman * Michel Host ...

.Daniel L. Nickrent, Albert Blarer, Yin-Long Qiu, Romina Vidal-Russell, and Frank E. Anderson. 2004. "Phylogenetic inference in Rafflesiales: the influence of rate heterogeneity and horizontal gene transfer". ''BMC Evolutionary Biology'' 4:40.

''Bdallophyton'' and ''Cytinus''

The parasitic genera ''Bdallophyton'' and ''Cytinus'' have been found to be closely related and have been placed together as the family

Cytinaceae Cytinaceae is a family of parasitic flowering plants. It comprises two genera, ''Cytinus'' and '' Bdallophytum'', totalling ten species. These two genera were formerly placed in the family Rafflesiaceae, order Malpighiales. When they were separa ...

. On the basis of mitochondrial DNA, Cytinaceae has been placed in

Malvales The Malvales are an order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by APG II-system, the order includes about 6000 species within 9 families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, which are part of the eudicots. The plants are mostly shrubs a ...

, as

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

Muntingiaceae The Muntingiaceae are a family of flowering plants, belonging to the rosid order Malvales. The family consists of three genera: ''Dicraspidia'', ''Muntingia'', and ''Neotessmannia'', each with a single species. They are woody plants of the tropi ...

.Daniel L. Nickrent. 2007. "Cytinaceae are sister to Muntingiaceae (Malvales)". ''Taxon'' 56(4):1129-1135.

''Mitrastemon''

The parasitic family Mitrastemonaceae has one genus, known either as ''Mitrastemon'' or ''Mitrastema''. The genus name and the corresponding family name have been a source of much confusion.Mitrastemonaceae
a

/ref> A phylogeny based on mitochondrial genes places ''Mitrastemon'' in the order

Ericales The Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledons. Species in this order have considerable commercial importance including for tea, persimmon, blueberry, kiwifruit, Brazil nuts, argan, and azalea. The order includes trees, bushes, liana ...

, but this result had only 76%

maximum likelihood In statistics, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is a method of estimating the parameters of an assumed probability distribution, given some observed data. This is achieved by maximizing a likelihood function so that, under the assumed sta ...

bootstrap support.Todd J. Barkman, Joel R. McNeal, Seok-Hong Lim, Gwen Coat, Henrietta B. Croom, Nelson D. Young, and Claude W. de Pamphilis. 2007. "Mitochondrial DNA suggests at least 11 origins of parasitism in angiosperms and reveals genomic chimerism in parasitic plants". ''BMC Evolutionary Biology'' 7:248.

''Hoplestigma''

''Hoplestigma'' consists of two species of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n trees, notable for their large leaves, up to 55 cm long and 25 cm wide.Richard K. Brummitt and Martin R. Cheek. 2007. "Hoplestigmataceae" page 167. In: Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Books: Ontario, Canada. (2007). It is usually placed by itself in the family Hoplestigmataceae which is thought to be related to

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the orde ...

Joan W. Nowicke Joan W. Nowicke (born 1938) is an American botanist from St. Louis, Missouri. She worked 27 years for the Smithsonian Institution, between 1972 and 1999, in the Department of Botany, from the National Museum of Natural History. Nowicke is a glob ...

and James S. Miller. 1989. "Pollen morphology and the relationships of Hoplestigmataceae". ''Taxon'' 38(1):12-16. In 2014, a phylogeny of Boraginaceae was

published Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, new ...

in a

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. Content Articles in scientific journals are mostly written by active scientists such ...

called ''

Cladistics Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived ch ...

''.Maximilian Weigend, Federico Luebert, Marc Gottschling, Thomas L.P. Couvreur, Hartmut H. Hilger and James S. Miller. 2014. "From capsules to nutlets — phylogenetic relationships in the Boraginales". ''Cladistics'' 30(5):508-518. . By comparing the

s of selected

s, the authors of that

showed that ''Hoplestigma'' is related to members of Boraginaceae subfamily

Cordioideae Cordioideae is a subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical nam ...

, and they recommended that ''Hoplestigma'' be placed in that subfamily. Other authors have suggested that, while ''Hoplestigma'' is the closest relative of Cordioideae, it should perhaps not be placed within it.Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards), Missouri Botanical Garden
Angiosperm Phylogeny

''Metteniusa''

''Metteniusa'' consists of seven species of trees in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and northwestern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. Ever since Hermann Karsten proposed the name Metteniusaceae in 1859, some authors have placed ''Metteniusa'' by itself, in that family.Gustavo Lozano-Contreras and Nubia B. de Lozano. 1988. "Metteniusaceae". Monograph 11. In: Polidoro Pinto and Gustavo Lozano-Contreras. (editors). "Flora de Colombia". Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia: Bogota, Colombia. Most authors, however, placed it in

until that family was shown to be polyphyletic in 2001. In 2007, in a comparison of DNA sequences for three genes, it was found that ''Metteniusa'' is one of the

clades of the

. The authors recommended that the family Metteniusaceae be recognized.Favio Gonzalez, Julio Betancur, Olivier Maurin, John V. Freudenstein, and Mark W. Chase. 2007. "Metteniusaceae: an early-diverging family in the lamiid clade". ''Taxon'' 56(3):795-800. Nothing is yet known about relationships among the groups of basal lamiids. The

groups A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

in this

polytomy An internal node of a phylogenetic tree is described as a polytomy or multifurcation if (i) it is in a rooted tree and is linked to three or more child subtrees or (ii) it is in an unrooted tree and is attached to four or more branches. A tr ...

include the order

Garryales The Garryales are a small order of dicotyledons, including only two families and three genera. Description Garryales are woody plants that are either hairless or have very fine hairs. Members of the family Garryaceae are evergreen, whereas th ...

, the families

Oncothecaceae ''Oncotheca'' is a genus of tree endemic to New Caledonia. There are two species, ''Oncotheca balansae'' and ''Oncotheca humboldtiana''. ''Oncotheca'' is the sole genus of the Oncothecaceae, which is one of three families of flowering plants en ...

, and

Metteniusaceae Metteniusaceae are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the order Metteniusales. It consists of about 10 genera and 50 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas, primarily of the tropics. The family was formerly restricted to just '' Mett ...

, as well as some unplaced genera, including ''

Apodytes ''Apodytes'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Metteniusaceae. It was formerly either unplaced as to family or placed in the family Icacinaceae. It consists of about 8 species of evergreen trees, from tropical northeastern Australia, N ...

'', ''

Emmotum ''Emmotum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Metteniusaceae. It was formerly placed in the family Icacinaceae. It has about 13 species. One of these species, ''E. harleyi'', was described in 2007.Rodrigo Duno de Stefano, Diego F. Angu ...

'', and ''

Cassinopsis ''Cassinopsis'' is a genus of Afrotropical plants, generally placed in the family ''Icacinaceae The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family of flowering plants,"Icacinaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Bo ...

''. No phylogenetic study has focused on the lamiids, but phylogenies have been inferred for the

asterids In the APG IV system (2016) for the classification of flowering plants, the name asterids denotes a clade (a monophyletic group). Asterids is the largest group of flowering plants, with more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flower ...

, a group composed of

Cornales The Cornales are an order of flowering plants, early diverging among the asterids, containing about 600 species. Plants within the Cornales usually have four-parted flowers, drupaceous fruits, and inferior to half-inferior gynoecia topped with d ...

, the

, and the

campanulids In the APG IV system (2016) for the classification of flowering plants, the name asterids denotes a clade (a monophyletic group). Asterids is the largest group of flowering plants, with more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flower ...

.Dirk C. Albach, Pamela S. Soltis, Douglas E. Soltis, and Richard G. Olmstead. 2001. "Phylogenetic analysis of Asterids based on sequences of four genes". ''Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden'' 88(2):163-212.Birgitta Bremer, Kåre Bremer, Nahid Heidari, Per Erixon, Richard G. Olmstead, Arne A. Anderberg, Mari Kallersjö, and Edit Barkhordarian. 2002. "Phylogenetics of Asterids based on 3 coding and 3 non-coding chloroplast DNA markers and the utility of non-coding DNA at higher taxonomic levels". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 24(2):274-301.

Balanophoraceae

Balanophoraceae is a family of holoparasites with 44 species in 17 genera. For a long time, ''Cynomorium'' was usually included in this family, but it is now known to be unrelated. In 2005, Balanophoraceae was shown to be in the order

Santalales The Santalales are an order of flowering plants with a cosmopolitan distribution, but heavily concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions. It derives its name from its type genus '' Santalum'' (sandalwood). Mistletoe is the common name for ...

, but its position within that order has not been determined.Daniel L. Nickrent, Joshua P. Der, and Frank E. Anderson. 2005. "Discovery of the photosynthetic relatives of the "Maltese Mushroom" Cynomorium". ''BMC Evolutionary Biology'' 5:38. Two researchers in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

announced on the internet in 2009 that they have results supporting the placement of Balanophoraceae in Santalales.Huei-Jiun Su and Jer-Ming Hu. "The phylogenetic relationships of Balanophoraceae and related Santalales inferred from floral B homeotic genes and nuclear 18S rDNA sequences". no date. no publisher. They have yet to publish anything in a

''Cynomorium''

Many names have been published in ''

Cynomorium ''Cynomorium'' is a genus of parasitic perennial flowering plants in the family Cynomoriaceae. The genus consists of only one species, ''Cynomorium coccineum'' (although one of its subspecies is sometimes treated as a separate species). Its plac ...

'',Cynomorium at International Plant Names Index
/ref> but there are probably only two species.Cynomorium
At

/ref> It is not closely related to anything else, so it is placed in the monogeneric family Cynomoriaceae. Attempts to find its closest relatives have demonstrated with special clarity that molecular phylogenetics is not a sure-fire, problem-free method of determining

systematic Systematic may refer to: Science * Short for systematic error * Systematic fault * Systematic bias, errors that are not determined by chance but are introduced by an inaccuracy (involving either the observation or measurement process) inheren ...

relationships. One study placed it in Saxifragales, but not at any particular position within that order. Doubts have been expressed about the results of this study. Another study placed ''Cynomorium'' in

Rosales Rosales () is an order of flowering plants.Peter F. Stevens (2001 onwards). "Rosales". At: Trees At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External links'' below) It is sister to a clade consisting of Faga ...

based on analysis of the two invert repeat regions of the chloroplast

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ...

, which evolve at one fifth the

rate Rate or rates may refer to: Finance * Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government * Exchange rate, rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another Mathematics and science * Rate (mathema ...

of the two

single copy regions Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

.Zhi-Hong Zhang, Chun-Qi Li, and Jianhua Li. 2009. "Phylogenetic placement of ''Cynomorium'' in Rosales inferred from sequences of the invert repeat region of the chloroplast genome". ''Journal of Systematics and Evolution'' 47(4):297-304.

''Gumillea''

''Gumillea'' has a single species, ''Gumillea auriculata'',H.G. Adolf Engler. 1930. "Cunoniaceae" pages 229-262. In: H.G. Adolf Engler and Karl Prantl (editors). ''Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' volume 18a. Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann: Leipzig, Germany. and is known from only one

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

which was collected in the late 18th century in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

.Alwyn H. Gentry. 1996. ''A Field Guide to Woody Plants of Northwest South America''. University of Chicago Press Edition (1996). The University of Chicago Press. Chicago, IL, USA. It was named by

Hipólito Ruiz López Hipólito Ruiz López (August 8, 1754 in Belorado, Burgos, Spain – 1816 in Madrid), or Hipólito Ruiz, was a Spanish botanist known for researching the floras of Peru and Chile during an expedition under Carlos III from 1777 to 1788. During t ...

and José Antonio Pavón Jiménez.Hipólito Ruiz-López and José Antonio Pavón y Jiménez. 1789-1802.
Flora Peruviana et Chilensis
'
Plate CCXLV
an
volume 3, page 23
Typis Gabrielis de Sancha: Madrid, Spain.

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studi ...

and

Joseph Hooker Joseph Hooker (November 13, 1814 – October 31, 1879) was an American Civil War general for the Union, chiefly remembered for his decisive defeat by Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Hooker had serv ...

placed it in

Cunoniaceae Cunoniaceae is a family of 27 genera and about 335 species of woody plants in the order Oxalidales, mostly found in the tropical and wet temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere. The greatest diversity of genera are in Australia and Tasmania ...

,George Bentham and Joseph Dalton Hooker. 1865. ''Genera Plantarum'' volume 1, part 2, page 651. Lovell Reeve & Co.; Williams and Norgate: London, England. and this treatment was followed by

Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with ...

and most others. The last comprehensive treatment of Cunoniaceae, however, excludes it from the family.Jason C. Bradford, Helen C. Fortune-Hopkins, and Richard W. Barnes. 2004. "Cunoniaceae". pages 91-111. In: Klaus Kubitski (editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume VI. Springer-Verlag: Berlin;Heidelberg, Germany. In 2009, Armen Takhtajan placed ''Gumillea'' in

Simaroubaceae The Simaroubaceae are a small, mostly tropical, family in the order Sapindales. In recent decades, it has been subject to much taxonomic debate, with several small families being split off. A molecular phylogeny of the family was published in 200 ...

.Armen L. Takhtajan (Takhtadzhian). ''Flowering Plants'' second edition (2009). Springer Science+Business Media. . (See ''External links'' below). A 2007 article on Simaroubaceae contains a list of the genera in the family. ''Gumillea'' is not on that list, but the authors do not provide a list or section on excluded genera.Joshua W. Clayton, Edwino S. Fernando, Pamela S. Soltis, and Douglas E. Soltis. 2007. "Molecular phylogeny of the tree-of-heaven family (Simaroubaceae) based on chloroplast and nuclear markers". ''International Journal of Plant Sciences'' 168(9):1325-1339. ''Gumillea'' has also been called a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

of ''

Picramnia ''Picramnia'', the bitterbushes, is a genus of plant considered to be in the family Picramniaceae, but sometimes placed in Simaroubaceae. The name is conserved against the genera ''Pseudo-brasilium'' Adans., and ''Tariri'' Aubl., both which ...

'',Lois Brako and James L. Zarucchi. 1993. "Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru". ''Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden''. monograph number 45. but the ultimate source of this information is obscure and it is not mentioned in either of the recent treatments of ''Picramnia''.Edwino S. Fernando and Christopher J. Quinn. 1995. "Picramniaceae, a new family, and a recircumscription of Simaroubaceae". ''Taxon'' 44(2):177-181.Klaus Kubitzki. 2007. "Picramniaceae" pages 301-303. In: Klaus Kubitski (editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume IX. Springer-Verlag: Berlin;Heidelberg, Germany. It is worth noting that on their

plate Plate may refer to: Cooking * Plate (dishware), a broad, mainly flat vessel commonly used to serve food * Plates, tableware, dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining * Plate, the content of such a plate (for example: ...

for ''Gumillea'', Ruiz and Pavón showed 11

ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the '' integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the f ...

s or immature

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

s that had been extracted from a 2- locular

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the bod ...

. But the ovary in ''Picramnia'' has (sometimes 2), usually 3 to 4 locules and there are always two ovules in each locule. It might be possible to determine the affinities of ''Gumillea'' if DNA could be extracted from the existing specimen. DNA has been successfully amplified from specimens of similar age.Katarina Andreasen, Mariette Manktelow, and Sylvain G. Razafimandimbison. 2009. "Successful DNA amplification of a more than 200-year-old herbarium specimen: recovering genetic material from the Linnean era". ''Taxon'' 58(3):959-962. Any material used in such research, however, will never be replaced.

Apodanthaceae

The family Apodanthaceae comprises 22 to 30 species of

endoparasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

. These are distributed into three genera: ''

Pilostyles ''Pilostyles'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apodanthaceae. It includes about 11 species of very small, completely parasitic plants that live inside the stems of woody legumes. Plants of this genus are sometimes referred to as ste ...

'', ''

Apodanthes ''Apodanthes'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apodanthaceae. It has only one currently accepted species, ''Apodanthes caseariae'', native to Central America and northern South America. It is a holoparasite that lives inside plants f ...

'', and '' Berlinianche''.Albert Blarer, Daniel L. Nickrent, and Peter K. Endress. 2004. "Comparative floral structure and systematics in Apodanthaceae (Rafflesiales)". ''Plant Systematics and Evolution'' 245(1-2):119-142. Attempts to determine the relationships of Apodanthaceae have produced only uncertain results and they have remained enigmatic,Apodanthaceae
a

/ref> until the family was shown to be confidently placed in CucurbitalesFilipowicz, N. & Renner, S.S. 2010. The worldwide holoparasitic Apodanthaceae confidently placed in the Cucurbitales by nuclear and mitochondrial gene trees. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10: 21

/ref>

References

External links

''Aneulophus''ApodanthaceaeBalanophoraceae''Bdallophytum''''Centroplacus''''Cynomorium''''Cytinus''''Dipentodon''''Gumillea''''Hoplestigma''''Leptaulus''''Medusandra''''Metteniusa''''Mitrastema''''Pottingeria''Rafflesiaceae''Trichostephanus''Mabberley's Plant-book

''Gumillea''''Flowering Plants'' (Takhtajan 2009)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unplaced In Apg Ii Plant taxonomy