The Cabombaceae are a family of aquatic, herbaceous

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. A common name for its species is water shield. The family is recognised as distinct in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group IV system (2016). The family consists of two genera of

aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that ...

s, ''

Brasenia ''Brasenia'', commonly known as ''watershield'', is a genus belonging to the family Cabombaceae, consisting of one species, ''Brasenia schreberi''. It is widely distributed in North America, the West Indies, northern South America (Venezuela, Gu ...

'' and '' Cabomba'', totalling six species. The Cabombaceae are all aquatic, living in still or slow-moving waters of temperate and tropical North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Although found on all continents but Antarctica, the plants tend to grow in relatively restricted ranges. The family has an extensive fossil record from the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

with plants that exhibit affinities to either the Cabombaceae or Nymphaeaceae occurring in the Early Cretaceous. One such likely Cretaceous member is the genus '' Pluricarpellatia'', found in rocks 115 million years old in what is now Brazil. The

APG system The APG system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system) of plant classification is the first version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy. Published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, it was replaced by the improved AP ...

of 1998 included this family in the water lily family

Nymphaeaceae Nymphaeaceae () is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates around the world. The family contains nine genera with about 70 known species. Water li ...

, as did the

APG II system The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Gro ...

, of 2003 (optionally). 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 system 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 ...

s of classification separated the family Cabombaceae from the family Nymphaeaceae. The family is part of the order Nymphaeales, which is one of the most basal

lineages.

References

* Simpson, M.G. ''Plant Systematics''. Elsevier Academic Press. 2006. * *

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q856266 Nymphaeales Angiosperm families