Picramniaceae is a small, mainly neotropical

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 four genera '' Aenigmanu'', '' Alvaradoa'', '' Nothotalisia'' and '' Picramnia''. The family is the only member of 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 ...

Picramniales. Members of the family were formerly placed in the family

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 ...

or misidentified as species in the family

Sapindaceae The Sapindaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1,858 accepted species. Examples include Aesculus, horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The ...

, in the order

Sapindales Sapindales is an order of flowering plants. Well-known members of Sapindales include citrus; maples, horse-chestnuts, lychees and rambutans; mangos and cashews; frankincense and myrrh; mahogany and neem. The APG III system of 2009 includ ...

. The most recent standard classification of the Angiosperms (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 Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a f ...

) distinguishes it as a separate family and order. It belongs to the malvids ( eurosids II), one of the three groups that constitute the

rosids The rosids are members of a large clade (monophyly, monophyletic group) of flowering plants, containing about 70,000 species, more than a quarter of all angiosperms. The clade is divided into 16 to 20 Order (biology), orders, depending upon Circu ...

. Four genera are accepted: *'' Aenigmanu'' – 1 species, Peru and northwestern Brazil *'' Alvaradoa'' – 6 species, Mexico and Florida to central South America *'' Nothotalisia'' – 3 species, Panama to Bolivia and northern Brazil *'' Picramnia'' – 44 species, Mexico and Florida to northeastern Argentina In 2021, a new genus was identified from materials collected almost 50 years prior. It was discovered by Robert Foster in 1973, but no scientist was able to identify it. It is named ''Aenigmanu'' for the enigma it originally presented to researchers.

Characteristics

The occurrence of tariric acid as the major fatty acid is typical for the Picramniaceae.R. Hänsel, 22. Lipide in: R. Hänsel, O. Sticher (Hrsg.) Pharmakognosie Phytopharmazie 9. Auflage (2010) 673–674 Springer, Heidelberg
Google Books

References

External links

(at Angiosperm Phylogeny Website)

(“Mystery plant” from the Amazon declared a new species after nearly 50 years of flummoxing scientists) {{Taxonbar, from=Q138806 Rosid families