Malpighiaceae 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 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 words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
s in the order
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, poinsett ...
. It comprises about 73
genera and 1315
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
,
all of which are native to the
tropics
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 referr ...
and
subtropics. About 80% of the genera and 90% of the species occur in the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
(the
Caribbean and the southernmost
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
to
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
) and the rest in the
Old World (
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 ...
,
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
, and
Indomalaya
The Indomalayan realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia.
Also called the Oriental realm by biogeographers, Indomalaya spreads all over the Indi ...
to
New Caledonia and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
).
One useful species in the family is ''
Malpighia emarginata'', often called acerola. The fruit is consumed in areas where the plant is native. The plant is cultivated elsewhere for the fruit, which is rich in
vitamin C
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...
.
Another member of the family, caapi or yagé (''
Banisteriopsis caapi
''Banisteriopsis caapi'', also known as ayahuasca, caapi, soul vine, or yagé (yage), is a South American liana of the family Malpighiaceae. It is one half of ayahuasca, a decoction with a long history of its entheogenic (connecting to spirit) us ...
''), is used in the
entheogenic
Entheogens are psychoactive substances that induce alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior for the purposes of engendering spiritual development or otherwiseRätsch, Christian, ''The Encyclopedia of Psychoact ...
brew known as
ayahuasca
AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' ( Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' desce ...
.
One feature found in several members of this family, and rarely in others, is providing
pollinators with rewards other than
pollen or
nectar; this is commonly in the form of nutrient oils (resins are offered by
Clusiaceae
The Clusiaceae or Guttiferae Juss. (1789) (''nom. alt. et cons.'' = alternative and valid name) are a family (biology), family of plants including 13 genera and ca 750 species. Several former members of Clusiacae are now placed in Calophyllaceae ...
).
Genera
*''
Acmanthera''
*''
Acridocarpus''
*''
Adelphia''
*''
Alicia''
*''
Amorimia''
*''
Andersoniodoxa''
*''
Aspicarpa''
*''
Aspidopterys''
*''
Banisteriopsis''
*''
Barnebya''
*''
Blepharandra''
*''
Brachylophon''
*''
Bronwenia''
*''
Bunchosia''
*''
Burdachia''
*''
Byrsonima''
*''
Calcicola''
*''
Callaeum''
*''
Camarea''
*''
Carolus''
*''
Caucanthus''
*''
Christianella''
*''
Coleostachys''
*''
Cordobia''
*''
Cottsia''
*''
Diacidia''
*''
Dicella''
*''
Digoniopterys''
*''
Dinemagonum''
*''
Dinemandra''
*''
Diplopterys''
*''
Echinopterys''
*''
Ectopopterys''
*''
Excentradenia''
*''
Flabellaria''
*''
Flabellariopsis''
*''
Gallardoa''
*''
Galphimia''
*''
Gaudichaudia''
*''
Glandonia''
*''
Glicophyllum''
*''
Heladena''
*''
Henleophytum''
*''
Heteropterys''
*''
Hiptage
''Hiptage'' is a genus in the Malpighiaceae, a family of about 75 genera of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. ''Hiptage'' comprises 30 (or more) species of vines and woody shrubs growing in forests of tropical southeastern Asia from Pa ...
''
*''
Hiraea''
*''
Janusia''
*''
Jubelina''
*''
Lasiocarpus''
*''
Lophanthera''
*''
Lophopterys''
*''
Madagasikaria''
*''
Malpighia''
*''
Malpighiodes''
*''
Mascagnia''
*''
Mcvaughia''
*''
Mezia''
*''
Microsteira''
*''
Mionandra''
*''
Niedenzuella''
*''
Peixotoa
''Peixotoa'' is a genus in the Malpighiaceae, a family of about 75 genera of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. ''Peixotoa'' comprises 29 species of vines, shrubs, and subshrubs native to Brazil and adjacent Paraguay and Bolivia.
Extern ...
''
*''
Philgamia''
*''
Psychopterys''
*''
Pterandra''
*''
Ptilochaeta''
*''
Rhynchophora''
*''
Spachea''
*''
Sphedamnocarpus''
*''
Stigmaphyllon''
*''
Tetrapterys''
*''
Thryallis''
*''
Triaspis''
*''
Tricomaria''
*''
Tristellateia''
*''
Verrucularina''
References
*Davis, C. C., and W. R. Anderson. 2010. A complete phylogeny of Malpighiaceae inferred from nucleotide sequence data and morphology. American Journal of Botany 97: 2031–2048.
*Michener, C. D. 2000. ''The Bees of the World''. Johns Hopkins University Press. 913 pp. (p. 17-18)
*Vogel, S. 1974. ''Ölblumen und ölsammelnde Bienen.''
ropische und subtropische Pflanzenwelt. 7 267 pp.
External links
MalpighiaceaeMalpighiaceae - description, taxonomy, phylogeny, literature, and nomenclature
Malpighiales families
{{Malpighiaceae-stub