The Capparaceae (or Capparidaceae), commonly known as the
caper
''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers.
The taxonomic status of the species is controversial and unsettled. Species with ...
family, are a family of plants in the order
Brassicales
The Brassicales (or Cruciales) are an order (biology), order of flowering plants, belonging to the malvid group of eudicotyledons under the APG IV system. Well-known members of Brassicales include cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprout, broccoli, ...
. As currently circumscribed, the family contains 15 genera and about 430 species. The largest genera are ''
Capparis
''Capparis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Capparaceae. It includes 142 species of shrubs or lianas which are collectively known as caper shrubs or caperbushes. ''Capparis'' species occur over a wide range of habitat in the subtr ...
'' (about 140 species), ''
Morisonia'' (87 species), ''
Maerua
''Maerua'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Capparaceae. It includes 70 species of shrubs and small trees with its centre of diversity in Africa, though some species extend their range as far north as the Levant, and as far east as th ...
'' (70 species), ''
Boscia
''Boscia'' is a genus of plants in the family Capparaceae. It contains the following species:
*''Boscia albitrunca'' (Burch) Gilg & Ben.
*''Boscia angustifolia'' A. Rich.
*''Boscia arabica'' Pestalozii
*''Boscia caffra'' Sond.
*''Boscia coriac ...
'' (30 species), and ''
Cadaba'' (30 species).
Taxonomy
The Capparaceae have long been considered closely related to and have often been included in the
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae () or (the older but equally valid) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important Family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous pla ...
, the mustard family (
APG, 1998), in part because both groups produce
glucosinolate
Glucosinolates are natural components of many pungent plants such as mustard, cabbage, and horseradish. The pungency of those plants is due to mustard oils produced from glucosinolates when the plant material is chewed, cut, or otherwise damaged. ...
(
mustard oil
Mustard oil can mean either the pressed oil used for cooking or a pungent essential oil, also known as volatile oil, of the mustard plant. The essential oil results from grinding mustard seed, mixing the grounds with water, and isolating the resu ...
) compounds. Subsequent molecular studies support Capparaceae'' sensu stricto'' as
paraphyletic
Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...
with respect to the Brassicaceae. However ''
Cleome'' and several related genera are more closely related to members of the Brassicaceae than to the other Capparaceae. These genera are now either placed in the Brassicaceae (as subfamily Clemoideae) or segregated into the
Cleomaceae
The Cleomaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, comprising about 220 species in two genera, '' Cleome'' and '' Cleomella''. These genera were previously included in the family Capparaceae, but were raised to a dis ...
. Several more genera of the traditional Capparaceae are more closely related to other members of the Brassicales, and the relationships of several more remain unresolved. Based on morphological grounds and supported by molecular studies, the American species traditionally identified as ''Capparis'' have been transferred to resurrected
generic names. Several new genera have also been recently described.
[(Cornejo & Iltis 2006, 2008a-e; Iltis & Cornejo, 2007; Hall, 2008).]
Based on recent
DNA-analysis, the Capparaceae are part of the core Brassicales, and based on limited testing, the following tree represent current insights in its relationship.
Genera
15 genera are accepted:
[''Capparaceae'' Juss.]
''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 ...
''. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
Excluded genera
*''
Borthwickia''
W.W.Sm. → Resedaceae
*''
Cleome''
L. →
Cleomaceae
The Cleomaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, comprising about 220 species in two genera, '' Cleome'' and '' Cleomella''. These genera were previously included in the family Capparaceae, but were raised to a dis ...
*''
Cleomella''
DC. → Cleomaceae
*''
Dactylaena''
Schrad. ex Schult.f. → Cleomaceae
*''
Forchhammeria
''Forchhammeria'' is a genus of plants in the order Brassicales. This genus has previously been placed in the Stixaceae (now obsolete) and Capparaceae, but under the APG IV system is now included in the family Resedaceae. Species can be found in ...
''
Liebm. →
Stixaceae Stixaceae is a family in the plant order Brassicales. It is no longer recognised by most taxonomists. The three genera formerly included in Stixaceae — ''Forchhammeria'', ''Stixis (plant), Stixis'' and ''Tirania'' — have sometimes been placed in ...
*''
Haptocarpum
''Cleome'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cleomaceae, commonly known as spider flowers, spider plants, spider weeds, or bee plants. Previously, it had been placed in the family Capparaceae, until DNA studies found the Cleomaceae ge ...
''
Ule → Cleomaceae
*''
Koeberlinia''
Zucc. →
Koeberliniaceae
*''
Oxystylis''
Torr. & Frem. → Cleomaceae
*''
Pentadiplandra''
Baill. →
Pentadiplandraceae
*''
Podandrogyne''
Ducke → Cleomaceae
*''
Polanisia''
Raf. → Cleomaceae
*''
Setchellanthus''
Brandegee →
Setchellanthaceae
''Setchellanthus caeruleus'' is a species of pungent shrub with large blue flowers. It is placed alone in the genus ''Setchellanthus'', which is in turn, is placed alone in the family Setchellanthaceae. It is endemic to Mexico.
The genus and the ...
*''
Stixis''
Lour. → Stixaceae
*''
Tirania''
Pierre → Stixaceae
*''
Wislizenia''
Engelm. → Cleomaceae
; Genus insufficiently known according to Kers in
Kubitzki, but whose descriptions indicate it cannot belong to the Capparaceae
*''
Keithia''
Spreng. (unplaced)
References
Further reading
*Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2006. New combinations in Capparaceae sensu stricto for Flora of Ecuador. ''Harvard Pap. Bot.'' 11(1): 17–18.
*Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008a. Two new genera of Capparaceae: ''Sarcotoxicum'' and ''Mesocapparis'' stat. nov., and the reinstatement of ''Neocalyptrocalyx''. ''Harvard Pap. Bot.'' 13(1): 103-116.
*Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008b. New combinations in South American Capparaceae. ''Harvard Pap. Bot.'' 13(1): 117-120.
*Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008c. ''Anisocapparis'' y ''Monilicarpa'': dos nuevos géneros de Capparaceae de América del Sur. ''J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas'' 2(1): 61-74.
*Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008d. The reinstatement of ''Capparidastrum''. ''Harvard Pap. Bot.'' 13(2): 229-236.
*Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008e. A revision of ''Colicodendron'' Mart. (Capparaceae s.s.). ''J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas'', 2(1): 75-93.
*
*Hall, J. C., K. J. Sytsma and H. H. Iltis. 2002. Phylogeny of Capparaceae and Brassicaceae based on chloroplast sequence data. ''American Journal of Botany'' 89: 1826-1842 (abstrac
here).
*Hall, J. C., H. H. Iltis and K. J. Sytsma. 2004. Molecular phylogenetics of core Brassicales, placement of orphan genera ''Emblingia'', ''Forchhammeria'', ''Tirania'', and character evolution. ''Systematic Botany'' 29: 654-669 (abstrac
here.
*Hall, J. C. 2008. Systematics of Capparaceae and Cleomaceae: an evaluation of the generic delimitations of Capparis and Cleome using plastid DNA sequence data. ''Botany'' 86: 682–696.
*Iltis, H. H. & Cornejo, X. 2007. Studies in the Capparaceae XXX. ''Capparicordis'', a new genus from the Neotropics. ''Brittonia'' 59: 246–254.
*Kers, L. E. 2003. Capparaceae. In: Kubitzki, K. (Series Editor):''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'', Vol.5: K. Kubitzki & C. Bayer (Volume Editors).Springer-Verlag Berlin, 36-56.
* Takhtajan, A. 1997. ''Diversity and classification of flowering plants''.
External links
Capparaceae, in Flowering Plants of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.
in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards).
{{Authority control
Brassicales families