Malpighiaceae is 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 ...
of
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 in the order
Malpighiales. It comprises about 73
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 1315
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
,
all of which are native to the
tropics
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 ...
and
subtropics
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones immediately to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately ...
. About 80% of the genera and 90% of the species occur in the
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
(the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
and the southernmost
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
) and the rest in the
Old World
The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...
(
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 ...
,
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
, 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 Ind ...
to
New Caledonia
New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
and the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
).
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, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...
.
Another member of the family, caapi or yagé (''
Banisteriopsis caapi''), is used in the
entheogenic 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'' descen ...
.
One feature found in several members of this family, and rarely in others, is providing
pollinator
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female carpel, stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Insects are ...
s with rewards other than
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...
or
nectar
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...
; 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
73 genera are accepted.
[
*'' Acmanthera''
*'' Acridocarpus''
*'' Adelphia''
*'' Alicia''
*'' Amorimia''
*'' Andersoniodoxa''
*'' Aspicarpa'' (synonym '' Gaudichaudia'' )
*'' Aspidopterys''
*'' Banisteriopsis''
*'' Barnebya''
*'' Blepharandra''
*'' Brachylophon''
*'' Bronwenia''
*'' Bunchosia''
*'' Burdachia''
*'' Byrsonima''
*'' Calcicola''
*'' Callaeum''
*'' Camarea''
*'' Carolus''
*'' Caucanthus''
*'' Chlorohiptage''
*'' Christianella''
*'' Coleostachys''
*'' Cottsia''
*'' Diacidia''
*'' Dicella''
*'' Digoniopterys''
*'' Dinemandra'' (synonym ''Dinemagonum'' )
*'' Diplopterys''
*'' Echinopterys''
*'' Ectopopterys''
*'' Excentradenia''
*'' Flabellaria''
*'' Flabellariopsis''
*'' Galphimia''
*'' Glandonia''
*'' Glicophyllum''
*'' Heladena'' (synonym ''Henleophytum'' )
*'' Heteropterys''
*'' Hiptage''
*'' Hiraea''
*'' Janusia''
*'' Jubelina''
*'' Lasiocarpus''
*'' Lophanthera''
*'' Lophopterys''
*'' Madagasikaria''
*'' Malpighia''
*'' Malpighiodes''
*'' Mamedea''
*'' Mascagnia''
*'' Mcvaughia''
*'' Mezia''
*'' Microsteira''
*'' Mionandra'' (synonyms ''Cordobia'' and ''Gallardoa'' )
*'' Niedenzuella''
*'' Peixotoa''
*'' Philgamia''
*'' Psychopterys''
*'' Pterandra''
*'' Ptilochaeta''
*'' Rhynchophora''
*'' Schwannia''
*'' 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
*
*
Malpighiaceae
Malpighiaceae - description, taxonomy, phylogeny, literature, and nomenclature
Malpighiales families
{{Malpighiaceae-stub