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Pantropical
A pantropical ("all tropics") distribution is one which covers tropical regions of both hemispheres. Examples of species include caecilians, modern sirenians and the plant genera ''Acacia'' and ''Bacopa''. ''Neotropical'' is a zoogeographic term that covers a large part of the Americas, roughly from Mexico and the Caribbean southwards (including cold regions in southernmost South America). '' Palaeotropical'' refers to geographical occurrence. For a distribution to be palaeotropical a taxon must occur in tropical regions in the Old World. According to Takhtajan (1978), the following families have a pantropical distribution: Annonaceae, Hernandiaceae, Lauraceae, Piperaceae, Urticaceae, Dilleniaceae, Tetrameristaceae, Passifloraceae, Bombacaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rhizophoraceae, Myrtaceae, Anacardiaceae, Sapindaceae, Malpighiaceae, Proteaceae, Bignoniaceae, Orchidaceae and Arecaceae.Takhtajan, A. (1986). ''Floristic Regions of the World''. (translated by T.J. Crovello & A. Cronqui ...
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Annonaceae
The Annonaceae are a family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest family in the Magnoliales. Several genera produce edible fruit, most notably ''Annona'', ''Anonidium'', ''Asimina'', '' Rollinia'', and '' Uvaria''. Its type genus is ''Annona''. The family is concentrated in the tropics, with few species found in temperate regions. About 900 species are Neotropical, 450 are Afrotropical, and the remaining are Indomalayan. Description The species are mostly tropical, some are mid-latitude, deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, with some lianas, with aromatic bark, leaves, and flowers. ; Stems, stalks and leaves: Bark is fibrous and aromatic. Pith septate (fine tangential bands divided by partitions) to diaphragmed (divided by thin partitions with openings in them). Branching distichous (arranged in two rows/on on ...
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Palaeotropical
The Paleotropical Kingdom (Paleotropis) is a floristic kingdom comprising tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), as proposed by Ronald Good and Armen Takhtajan. Part of its flora, inherited from the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana or exchanged later (e.g. Piperaceae with pantropical distribution and but few warm temperate representatives), is shared with the Neotropical Kingdom, comprising tropical areas of Central and South America. Moreover, the Paleotropical flora influenced the tropical flora of the Australian Kingdom. The Paleotropical Kingdom is subdivided into five floristic subkingdoms according to Takhtajan (or three, according to Good) and about 13 floristic regions. In this article the floristic subkingdoms and regions are given as delineated by Takhtajan. Origin A distinct community of vascular plants evolved millions of years ago, and are now found on several separate areas. Millions of years ago, the warmer and wetter areas ...
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Piperaceae
The Piperaceae (), also known as the pepper family, are a large family of flowering plants. The group contains roughly 3,600 currently accepted species in 5 genera. The vast majority of species can be found within the two main genera: ''Piper'' (2,171 species) and ''Peperomia'' (over 1,000 species). Members of the Piperaceae may be small trees, shrubs, or herbs. The distribution of this group is best described as pantropical. The best-known species, ''Piper nigrum'', yields most peppercorns that are used as spices, including black pepper, although its relatives in the family include many other spices. Etymology The name Piperaceae is likely to be derived from the Sanskrit term ''pippali'', sa, पिप्पली, which was used to describe long peppers (like those of '' Piper longum''). Taxonomy The APG III system of 2009 recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Piperales in the unranked clade magnoliids. The family consists of five genera: ''Piper'', ''Pe ...
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Lauraceae
Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur mainly in warm temperate and tropical regions, especially Southeast Asia and South America. Many are aromatic evergreen trees or shrubs, but some, such as '' Sassafras'', are deciduous, or include both deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, especially in tropical and temperate climates. The genus '' Cassytha'' is unique in the Lauraceae in that its members are parasitic vines. Most laurels are highly-poisonous. Overview The family has a worldwide distribution in tropical and warm climates. The Lauraceae are important components of tropical forests ranging from low-lying to montane. In several forested regions, Lauraceae are among the top five families in terms of the number of species present. The Lauraceae give their name to habitats ...
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Rhizophoraceae
The Rhizophoraceae is a family of tropical or subtropical flowering plants. It includes around 147 species distributed in 15 genera.Setoguchi, H., Kosuge, K., & Tobe, H. (1999). Molecular Phylogeny of Rhizophoraceae Based on rbcL Gene Sequences. ''Journal of Plant Research'', ''112''(4), 443–455. https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00013899 Under the family, there are three tribes, Rhizophoreae, Gynotrocheae, and Macarisieae. Even though Rhizophoraceae is known for its mangrove members, only the genera under Rhizophoreae grow in the mangrove habitats and the remaining members live in inland forests. Taxonomy This family is now placed in the order Malpighiales, though under the Cronquist system, they formed an order in themselves (Rhizophorales).Juncosa, A. M., & Tomlinson, P. B. (1988). A Historical and Taxonomic Synopsis of Rhizophoraceae and Anisophylleaceae. ''Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden'', ''75''(4), 1278. https://doi.org/10.2307/2399286 It is sister group to Erythroxyla ...
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Tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone (see geographical zone). In terms of climate, the tropics receive sunlight that is more direct than the rest of Earth and are generally hotter and wetter as they aren't affected as much by the solar seasons. The word "tropical" sometimes refers to this sort of climate in the zone rather than to the geographical zone itself. The tropical zone includes deserts and snow-capped mountains, which are not tropical in the climatic sense. The tropics are distinguished from the other climatic and biomatic regions of Earth, which are the middle latitudes and the polar regions on either side of the equatorial zone. The tropics constitute 40% of Earth's surface area and contain 36% of Earth's landmass. ...
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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 a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are shrubs or trees, such as ''Hevea brasiliensis''. Some, such as ''Euphorbia canariensis'', are succulent and resemble cacti because of convergent evolution. This family has a cosmopolitan global distribution. The greatest diversity of species is in the tropics, however, the Euphorbiaceae also have many species in nontropical areas of all continents except Antarctica. Description The leaves are alternate, seldom opposite, with stipules. They are mainly simple, but where compound, are always palmate, never pinnate. Stipules may be reduced to hairs, glands, or spines, or in succulent species are sometimes absent. The plants can be monoecious or dioecious. The radially symmetrical flowers are unisexual, wi ...
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Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All species are woody, contain essential oils, and have flower parts in multiples of four or five. The leaves are evergreen, alternate to mostly opposite, simple, and usually entire (i.e., without a toothed margin). The flowers have a base number of five petals, though in several genera, the petals are minute or absent. The stamens are usually very conspicuous, brightly coloured, and numerous. Evolutionary history Scientists hypothesize that the family Myrtaceae arose between 60 and 56 million years ago (Mya) during the Paleocene era. Pollen fossils have been sourced to the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. The breakup of Gondwana during the Cretaceous period (145 to 66 Mya) geographically isolated disjunct taxa and allowed for rapid speciatio ...
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Anacardiaceae
The Anacardiaceae, commonly known as the cashew family or sumac family, are a family of flowering plants, including about 83 genera with about 860 known species. Members of the Anacardiaceae bear fruits that are drupes and in some cases produce urushiol, an irritant. The Anacardiaceae include numerous genera, several of which are economically important, notably cashew (in the type genus '' Anacardium''), mango, Chinese lacquer tree, yellow mombin, Peruvian pepper, poison ivy, poison oak, sumac, smoke tree, marula and cuachalalate. The genus '' Pistacia'' (which includes the pistachio and mastic tree) is now included, but was previously placed in its own family, the Pistaciaceae. Description Trees or shrubs, each has inconspicuous flowers and resinous or milky sap that may be highly poisonous, as in black poisonwood and sometimes foul-smelling. Natural System of Botany (1831)pages 125-127/ref> Resin canals located in the inner fibrous bark of the fibrovascular syste ...
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Passifloraceae
The Passifloraceae are a family of flowering plants, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera. They include trees, shrubs, lianas, and climbing plants, and are mostly found in tropical regions. The family takes its name from the passion flower genus ('' Passiflora'') which includes the edible passion fruit (''Passiflora edulis''), as well as garden plants such as maypop and running pop. ''Passiflora'' vines and '' Dryas iulia'' (among other heliconian butterflies) have demonstrated evidence of coevolution, 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 of classification placed this family in the order Violales, but under more modern classifications systems such as that proposed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, this is absorbed into the Malpighiales and the family has been expanded to include the former Maleshe ...
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Sapindaceae
The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in temperate to tropical regions, many in laurel forest habitat, throughout the world. Many are laticiferous, i.e. they contain latex, a milky sap, and many contain mildly toxic saponins with soap-like qualities in either the foliage and/or the seeds, or roots. The largest genera are '' Serjania'', ''Paullinia'', '' Allophylus'' and '' Acer''. Description Plants of this family have a variety of habits, from trees to herbaceous plants to lianas. The leaves of the tropical genera are usually spirally alternate, while those of the temperate maples ('' Acer), Aesculus'', and a few other genera are opposite. They are most often pinnately compound, but are palmately compound in ''Aesculus'', and simply palmate in ''Acer''. The petiole has a swol ...
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Malpighiaceae
Malpighiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. It comprises about 73 genera and 1315 species, all of which are native to the tropics and subtropics. About 80% of the genera and 90% of the species occur in the New World (the Caribbean and the southernmost United States to Argentina) and the rest in the Old World (Africa, Madagascar, and Indomalaya to New Caledonia and the Philippines). 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. Another member of the family, caapi or yagé ('' Banisteriopsis caapi''), is used in the entheogenic brew known as ayahuasca. One feature found in several members of this family, and rarely in others, is providing pollinators with rewards other than pollen or nectar; this is commonly in the form of nutrient oils (resins are offered by Clusiace ...
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