The Passifloraceae 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, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera. They include

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

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, and climbing plants, and are mostly found in tropical regions. The family takes its name from the passion flower genus (''

Passiflora ''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae. ''Passiflora'' species are widely cultivated for their striking flowers, fla ...

'') which includes the edible passion fruit (''

Passiflora edulis ''Passiflora edulis'', commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to the region of southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for Passi ...

''), as well as garden plants such as maypop and running pop. ''Passiflora'' vines and ''

Dryas iulia ''Dryas iulia'' (often incorrectly spelled ''julia''),Lamas, G. (editor) (2004). Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera. Checklist: Part 4A. Hesperioidea – Papilionoidea. commonly called the Julia butterfly, Julia heliconian, the flame, or flambeau ...

'' (among other heliconian butterflies) have demonstrated evidence of

coevolution In biology, coevolution occurs when two or more species reciprocally affect each other's evolution through the process of natural selection. The term sometimes is used for two traits in the same species affecting each other's evolution, as well a ...

, in which the plants attempted to stop their destruction from larval feeding by the butterflies, while the butterflies tried to gain better survival for their eggs. The former

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 ...

of classification placed this family in the order

Violales Violales is a botanical name of an order of flowering plants and takes its name from the included family Violaceae; it was proposed by Lindley (1853). The name has been used in several systems, although some systems used the name Parietales for ...

, but under more modern classifications systems such as that proposed by the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Group The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) is an informal international group of systematic botanists who collaborate to establish a consensus on the taxonomy of flowering plants (angiosperms) that reflects new knowledge about plant relationships disc ...

, this is absorbed into the

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 ...

and the family has been expanded to include the former Malesherbiaceae and Turneraceae.

Genera

Subfamily Malesherbioideae

*''

Malesherbia ''Malesherbia'' is a genus of flowering plants consisting of 25 species in the Passifloraceae. This is a xerophytic group endemic to the Peruvian and Chilean deserts and adjacent Argentina. The genus is currently recognized by the APG III system ...

'' Ruiz & Pav.

Subfamily Pibirioideae

* ''

Pibiria ''Pibiria'' is a genus consisting of only one species, ''Pibiria flava''. The genus is the only member of the subfamily Pibirioideae (Passifloraceae). ''Pibiria flava'' ''Pibiria flava'', the sole member of ''Pibiria'', was identified, but un ...

'' Maas

Subfamily Passifloroideae

Subfamily Turneroideae

Excluded genera

*''

Abatia ''Abatia'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Raleighia'' George Gardner (botanist), Gardner) is a genus of about ten species of Central America, Central and South American trees in the family Salicaceae (following the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classif ...

'' Ruiz & Pav. →

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 ...

*''

Aphaerema ''Aphaerema'' was formerly a genus of flowering plants in the Flacourtiaceae, consisting of one species of small shrubs, '' Aphaerema spicata'', which is native to Brazil and Argentina. Later studies indicated that ''Aphaerema'' should be classif ...

'' Miers → Salicaceae

Phylogeny

Source:

References

External links

* *
Passiflora OnlineThe Passiflora Society International
{{Authority control Malpighiales families