The Aptandraceae is a family of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the sandalwood order

Santalales The Santalales are an order of flowering plants with a cosmopolitan distribution, but heavily concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions. It derives its name from its type genus ''Santalum'' (sandalwood). Mistletoe is the common name for a ...

that is recognized by some sources; others sink the family in

Olacaceae Olacaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Santalales. They are woody plants, native throughout the tropical regions of the world. , the circumscription of the family varies; some sources maintain a broad family, others split it into ...

. The members of the tropical plant family are parasitic on other plants, usually on the roots, and grow as trees, shrubs or woody lianas. The genera of the family have long been recognized by taxonomists as forming a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

(van Tieghem (1896), Pierre (1897), and Gagnepain (1910)), but have usually been placed in the family

. In the

APG III APG is an abbreviation with several different meanings: * Aberdeen Proving Ground, a United States Army installation in Aberdeen, Maryland, also ** Phillips Army Airfield, the airfield of the above, from its IATA airport code * Aboriginal Provisiona ...

and

APG IV The APG IV system of flowering plant classification is the fourth version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy for flowering plants (angiosperms) being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). It was publishe ...

systems, it was accepted that the Olacaceae ''sensu lato'' were

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

but new family limits were not proposed as relationships were considered uncertain. Subsequently, some sources have accepted the division of Olacaceae into six families, including Aptandraceae. Others continue to use a broad

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle *Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) * Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

of Olacaceae.

Genera

, eight genera were placed in this family by the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Website The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (or APweb) is a website dedicated to research on angiosperm phylogeny and taxonomy. The site is hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden website and maintained by researchers, Peter F. Stevens and Hilary M. Davis ...

. ,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

placed all the genera in Olacaceae. *'' Anacolosa'' Blume *'' Aptandra'' Miers *''

Cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

'' Miers *''

Chaunochiton ''Chaunochiton'' is a genus of flowering plants. In the APG IV system, the genus is placed in the family Olacaceae Olacaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Santalales. They are woody plants, native throughout the tropical regions ...

'' Bentham *'' Harmandia'' Baillon *'' Hondurodendron'' C. Ulloa, Nickrent, Whitefoord & Kelly *'' Ongokea'' Pierre *''

Phanerodiscus ''Phanerodiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants. In the APG IV system, the genus is placed in the family Olacaceae Olacaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Santalales. They are woody plants, native throughout the tropical regions ...

'' Cavaco

External links

Parasitic Plant Connection: Aptandraceae

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10734668 Santalales Eudicot families