The Dioncophyllaceae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 three species of lianas native to the

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

s of western Africa. Their closest relatives are

Ancistrocladaceae ''Ancistrocladus'' is a genus of woody lianas in the Monotypic taxon, monotypic family ''Ancistrocladaceae''. The branches climb by twining other stems or by scrambling with hooked tips. They are found in the tropics of the Old World. Classific ...

. Both families lie within a clade of mostly carnivorous plants which, since 1998 or so, have been moved to the order Caryophyllales. This clade also includes the families

Droseraceae Droseraceae is a family of carnivorous flowering plants, also known as the sundew family. It consists of approximately 180 species in three extant genera, the vast majority being in the sundew genus '' Drosera''. The family also contains the wel ...

(sundews and Venus' flytrap) and Nepenthaceae (an Old World genus of pitcher plants), as well as Drosophyllaceae. All species in the family are

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s at some point in their lifecycles, and climb by the use of pairs of hooks or tendrils formed by the end of the

leaf A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...

midrib A primary vein, also known as the midrib, is the main vascular structure running through the center of a leaf. The primary vein is crucial for the leaf’s efficiency in photosynthesis and overall health, as it ensures the proper flow of material ...

s. The best-known member is the carnivorous '' Triphyophyllum peltatum'', although the family contains two other species: ''Habropetalum dawei'' and ''Dioncophyllum thollonii''.

History of classification

The

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a list of systems of plant taxonomy, taxonomic classification system of angiosperms, flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of ...

(1981) had placed the family in order Violales. The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the

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 ...

, of 1998), does recognize this family and assigns it to the order Caryophyllales in the clade core eudicots.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1057863 Caryophyllales families Caryophyllales