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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 phylogenetics, molecular-based, list of systems of plant taxonomy, system of plant taxonomy that ...
of
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 lore usuall ...
was published in April 2003, fifteen
genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
and three
families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...
were placed
incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), 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, uncertainty ...
in the
angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit. T ...
, 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 A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...
s had revealed the relationships of most of these
taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : 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 name and ...
, 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 iden ...
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 f ...
.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: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...
Malpighiales The Malpighiales comprise one of the largest Order (biology), orders of flowering plants. The order is very diverse, with well-known members including willows, Viola (plant), violets, aspens and Populus, poplars, Euphorbia pulcherrima, poinsett ...
, 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 Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...
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 "unisp ...
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 Asterids are a large clade (monophyletic group) of flowering plants, composed of 17 orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flowering plant species. The asterids are divided into the unranked clades lamiids (8 orders) and ...
, 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'' and '' Petenaea'' 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 * Field of study * Observational study * Scientific study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study ...
based on morphological and
DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...
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 (biology), family of flowering plants. It consists of about 43 species of trees, shrubs, and Woody plant, woody vines, mostly of the tropics, but with a few in Temperateness, temperate regions.Vernon H. Heywo ...
.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 structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal 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 scien ...
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
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 f ...
of 2009. Before 2001, ''Leptaulus'' and the rest of Cardiopteridaceae had usually been placed in a broadly
circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...
Icacinaceae The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family (biology), family of flowering plants,"Icacinaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website (see ''External links'' below). consisting of trees, shrub ...
, which turned out to be
polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...
. Some botanists do not recognize Cardiopteridaceae as a family of six genera. Instead, they segregate '' Cardiopteris'' into a
monogeneric 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 "unispe ...
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 biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent comm ...
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 is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
n tree ''Pottingeria'' might belong in the order
Celastrales The Celastrales are an order (biology), order of flowering plants found throughout the tropics and subtropics, with only a few species extending far into the Temperateness, temperate regions. The 1200"Lepidobotryaceae", "Parnassiaceae", and "Celas ...
.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). ...
, '' Pottingeria'', '' 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. The genus was first published in Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat ...
''), and the other genera of
Celastraceae The Celastraceae (staff-vine or bittersweet) are a family of 98 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 staf ...
. 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 sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...
to southern
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
, and northern
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
.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 in 1824. Species occur in China, Southeast Asia, Papuasia, Hawaii, Australia, and Latin America. It is the largest genus of the recently described order Hue ...
'' 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 ''Perrottetia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Dipentodontaceae described in 1 ...
.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
Malpighiales The Malpighiales comprise one of the largest Order (biology), orders of flowering plants. The order is very diverse, with well-known members including willows, Viola (plant), violets, aspens and Populus, poplars, Euphorbia pulcherrima, poinsett ...
, 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 social psychology and sociology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By cont ...
, they included four genera from
Saxifragales Saxifragales is an order (biology), order of flowering plants in the Superrosids, superrosid clade of the eudicots. It contains 15 Families (biology), families and around 100 genera, with nearly 2,500 species. Well-known and economically import ...
. 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;Heidelber ...
'', 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 fores ...
''. In their phylogeny, ''Medusandra'' and ''Soyauxia'' formed a strongly supported
clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
with ''Peridiscus'', a member of the family
Peridiscaceae Peridiscaceae is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants in the Order (biology), order Saxifragales.Peter F. Stevens. 2001 onwards. "Peridiscaceae". At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website. (see ''External li ...
, the most basal 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 The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Afri ...
'', ''
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'' 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 opposed to Herbaceous plant, herbaceous plants that die back to t ...
s from
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
.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 A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mat ...
to be correct. Its position within the family remains uncertain. Erythroxylaceae is a family of four genera. ''
Erythroxylum ''Erythroxylum'' is a genus of tropical flowering plants in the family Erythroxylaceae. Many of the approximately 200 species contain the tropane alkaloid cocaine,Bieri S, Brachet A, Veuthey J, Christen P. Cocaine distribution in wild Erythroxyl ...
'' 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 Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that inclu ...
'' 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 The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Af ...
'' 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 Ce ...
'', 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
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and
Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms. It is a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical kingdom. It was first recognized as a distinct region ...
.


''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 31 genera and about 155 species of tropical herbs, shrubs, and trees. The APG IV system has greatly expanded the scope of the family by including many genera previously classified in Flac ...
, 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 Sam ...
.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 are the willow family of flowering plants. The traditional family (Salicaceae ''sensu stricto'') includes the willows, poplars. Genetic studies summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) have greatly expanded the circumsc ...
.


Rafflesiaceae

Several genera have been removed from Rafflesiaceae, so that it now consists of only three genera: ''
Sapria ''Sapria'' is an Asian genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae erected by William Griffith in 1844.Griffith W (1844) ''Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond.'' 1: 216. It grows within roots of ''Vitis'' and ''Tetrastigma''. The genus is ...
'', ''
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'' (), or stinking corpse lily, is a genus of Parasitic plants, 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 p ...
''. 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
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 Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...
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 ...
, a circumscription of Euphorbiaceae that excludes
Phyllanthaceae Phyllanthaceae is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants in the eudicot Order (biology), order Malpighiales. It is most closely related to the family Picrodendraceae.Kenneth J. Wurdack and Charles C. Davis. 2009. "Malpighiales phylogeneti ...
,
Picrodendraceae Picrodendraceae is a family of flowering plants, consisting of 80 speciesStephens, P.F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/ in 25 genera. These are subtropical to Tropics, ...
,
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 coriace ...
,
Pandaceae The family (biology), 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 Galea ...
, 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 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 co ...
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 , , and ) is a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food from parasitism upon fungi rather than from photosynthesis. A myco-heterotroph i ...
holoparasites. In these, the
chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle, organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant cell, plant and algae, algal cells. Chloroplasts have a high concentration of chlorophyll pigments which captur ...
gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
s that are usually used in phylogenetic studies of angiosperms have become nonfunctional
pseudogene Pseudogenes are nonfunctional segments of DNA that resemble functional genes. Pseudogenes can be formed from both protein-coding genes and non-coding genes. In the case of protein-coding genes, most pseudogenes arise as superfluous copies of fun ...
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, ...
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 used ...
DNA sequences. But these sequences sometimes produce artifactual topologies in the
phylogenetic tree A phylogenetic tree or phylogeny is a graphical representation which shows the evolutionary history between a set of species or taxa during a specific time.Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA. In ...
, because
horizontal gene transfer Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring (reproduction). HGT is an important factor in the e ...
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 * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...
.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 separ ...
. On the basis of mitochondrial DNA, Cytinaceae has been placed in
Malvales The Malvales are an Order (biology), order of flowering plants. As circumscribed by Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG II-system, the order includes about 6000 species within nine Family (biology), families. The order is placed in the eurosids II, w ...
, as
sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent 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 ref ...
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 tro ...
.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 flowering plants in the asterid group of the eudicots. Well-known and economically important members of this order include tea and ornamental camellias, persimmon, ebony, blueberry, cranberry, l ...
, 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 stati ...
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. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
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 Borago, borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genus, genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single famil ...
. Joan W. Nowicke 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 activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
in a
scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...
called ''
Cladistics Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') is an approach to Taxonomy (biology), biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesiz ...
''.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
DNA sequence A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the nu ...
s of selected
gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
s, the authors of that
study Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Field of study * Observational study * Scientific study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study ...
showed that ''Hoplestigma'' is related to members of Boraginaceae
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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
Cordioideae Cordioideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant family Boraginaceae. Genera * '' Coldenia'' L. * ''Cordia ''Cordia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It contains 228 species of shrubs and trees, that are ...
, 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 is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
and northwestern
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. 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
Icacinaceae The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family (biology), family of flowering plants,"Icacinaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website (see ''External links'' below). consisting of trees, shrub ...
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 basal clades of the
lamiids Asterids are a large clade (monophyletic group) of flowering plants, composed of 17 orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flowering plant species. The asterids are divided into the unranked clades lamiids (8 orders) and ...
. 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 iden ...
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 tree ...
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 thos ...
, the families
Icacinaceae The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family (biology), family of flowering plants,"Icacinaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website (see ''External links'' below). consisting of trees, shrub ...
,
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 '' Mette ...
, as well as some unplaced genera, including '' Apodytes'', '' Emmotum'', and '' Cassinopsis''. No phylogenetic study has focused on the lamiids, but phylogenies have been inferred for the
asterids Asterids are a large clade (monophyly, monophyletic group) of flowering plants, composed of 17 Order_(biology), orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flowering plant species. The asterids are divided into the unranked cl ...
, 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 ...
,
Ericales The Ericales are a large and diverse order of flowering plants in the asterid group of the eudicots. Well-known and economically important members of this order include tea and ornamental camellias, persimmon, ebony, blueberry, cranberry, l ...
, the
lamiids Asterids are a large clade (monophyletic group) of flowering plants, composed of 17 orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flowering plant species. The asterids are divided into the unranked clades lamiids (8 orders) and ...
, and the
campanulids Asterids are a large clade (monophyly, monophyletic group) of flowering plants, composed of 17 Order_(biology), orders and more than 80,000 species, about a third of the total flowering plant species. The asterids are divided into the unranked cl ...
.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 (biology), order of flowering plants in the dicotyledons. Well-known members of the Santalales include Santalum, sandalwoods and the many species of mistletoes. The order has a cosmopolitan distribution, but is heavily ...
, 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. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
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
scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...
.


''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 introduced by an inaccuracy inherent to the system Economy * Systematic trading, a way of defining trade goals, risk control ...
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 (, ) are 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) Well-known members of Rosales include: ...
based on analysis of the two invert repeat regions of the chloroplast
genome 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 genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
, which evolve at one fifth the rate of the two single copy regions.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 f ...
which was collected in the late 18th century in
Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
.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 Charles III of Spain, Carlos III from 17 ...
and
José Antonio Pavón Jiménez José Antonio Pavón Jiménez or José Antonio Pavón (April 22, 1754 in Casatejada, Cáceres, Spain – 1840 in Madrid) was a Spanish botanist known for researching the flora of Peru and Chile. Biography During the reign of Charles III of ...
.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 studie ...
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 K ...
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 Armen Leonovich Takhtajan or Takhtajian (; surname also transliterated Takhtadjan, Takhtadzhi︠a︡n or Takhtadzhian, pronounced takh-tuh-JAHN; 10 June 1910 – 13 November 2009), was a Soviet- Armenian botanist, one of the most important fi ...
placed ''Gumillea'' in
Simaroubaceae The Simaroubaceae, also known as the quassia family, 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 phyloge ...
.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 precisely 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 a ...
of ''
Picramnia ''Picramnia'', the bitterbushes, is a genus of flowering plants generally placed in the family Picramniaceae, but sometimes included in Simaroubaceae.  The name is conserved name, conserved against the genera ''Pseudo-brasilium'' Michel Ada ...
'',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 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 sporangium, megasporangium), ...
s or immature
seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
s that had been extracted from a 2- locular
ovary The ovary () is a gonad in the female reproductive system that produces ova; when released, an ovum travels through the fallopian tube/ oviduct into the uterus. There is an ovary on the left and the right side of the body. The ovaries are end ...
. 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 (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The ent ...
herbs Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnish (food), garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typi ...
. 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 Unplaced names