The Capparaceae (or Capparidaceae), commonly known as the

caper ''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning ...

family, are a family of plants in the order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, the family contains 33 genera and about 700 species. The largest genera are ''

Capparis ''Capparis'' is a flowering plant genus, comprising around 250 species in the family Capparaceae which is included in the Brassicaceae in the unrevised APG II system. These plants are shrubs or lianas and are collectively known as caper shrubs o ...

'' (about 150 species), ''

Maerua ''Maerua'' is a genus of plants in the family Capparaceae, with its centre of diversity in Africa, though some species extend their range as far north as the Levant, and as far east as the Indian subcontinent and mainland Southeast Asia. Among i ...

'' (about 100 species), ''

Boscia ''Boscia'' is a genus of plants in the family ''Capparaceae''. It contains the following species: *''Boscia albitrunca'' (Burch) Gilg & Ben. *''Boscia angustifolia'' A. Rich. *'' Boscia arabica'' Pestalozii *'' Boscia caffra'' Sond. *'' Boscia ...

'' (37 species) and ''

Cadaba ''Cadaba'' is a genus of shrub A shrub (often also called a 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. ...

'' (30 species).

Taxonomy

The Capparaceae have long been considered closely related to and have often been included in the

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The l ...

, the mustard family (APG, 1998), in part because both groups produce glucosinolate ( mustard oil) compounds. Subsequent molecular studies support Capparaceae'' sensu stricto'' as

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 ...

with respect to the Brassicaceae. However ''

Cleome ''Cleome'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cleomaceae, commonly known as spider flowers, spider plants, spider weeds, or bee plants. Previously, it had been placed in the family Capparaceae, until DNA studies found the Cleomaceae ge ...

'' and several related genera are more closely related to members of the Brassicaceae than to the other Capparaceae. These genera are now either placed in the Brassicaceae (as subfamily Clemoideae) or segregated into the

Cleomaceae The Cleomaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, comprising about 300 species in 10 genera, or about 150 species in 17 genera.Cleomaceae, Zhang Mingli (张明理)1; Gordon C. Tucker2, Harvard.edu/ref> These genera ...

. Several more genera of the traditional Capparaceae are more closely related to other members of the Brassicales, and the relationships of several more remain unresolved. Based on morphological grounds and supported by molecular studies, the American species traditionally identified as ''Capparis'' have been transferred to resurrected generic names. Several new genera have also been recently described.(Cornejo & Iltis 2006, 2008a-e; Iltis & Cornejo, 2007; Hall, 2008). Based on recent DNA-analysis, the Capparaceae are part of the core Brassicales, and based on limited testing, the following tree represent current insights in its relationship.

Genera

Excluded genera

*''

Borthwickia ''Borthwickia'' is genus of flowering plants, containing one species, ''Borthwickia trifoliata'' from Yunnan, China and Myanmar. The common name in Chinese is 节蒴木 (jie shuo mu). It is a shrub or small tree with evergreen trifoliate leaves, ...

'' W.W.Sm. → Resedaceae *''

'' L. →

*''

Cleomella ''Cleomella'' is a small genus of about ten species of flowering plants. Like their relatives, the cleomes, plants of this genus have traditionally been included in the caper family Capparaceae but have recently been moved into a new family, Cleo ...

'' DC. → Cleomaceae *''

Dactylaena ''Dactylaena'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cleomaceae The Cleomaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Brassicales, comprising about 300 species in 10 genera, or about 150 species in 17 genera.Cleo ...

'' Schrad. ex Schult.f. → Cleomaceae *'' Forchhammeria'' Liebm. →

Stixaceae Stixaceae is a family in the plant order Brassicales. It is no longer recognised by most taxonomists. The three genera formerly included in Stixaceae — '' Forchhammeria'', '' Stixis'' and '' Tirania'' — have sometimes been placed instead in the ...

*'' Haptocarpum'' Ule → Cleomaceae *''

Koeberlinia ''Koeberlinia'' is a genus of flowering plant. It is the sole genus in the family ''Koeberliniaceae''. Alternately it is treated as a member of the Capparaceae. Species ''Koeberlinia'' includes two species: *'' Koeberlinia holacantha'' W.C. ...

'' Zucc. → Koeberliniaceae *'' Oxystylis'' Torr. & Frem. → Cleomaceae *''

Pentadiplandra ''Pentadiplandra brazzeana'' is an evergreen shrub or liana that is the only species assigned to the genus ''Pentadiplandra'', and has been placed in a family of its own called Pentadiplandraceae. It produces large red berries, sometimes mottled ...

'' Baill. →

ceae *'' Podandrogyne'' Ducke → Cleomaceae *'' Polanisia'' Raf. → Cleomaceae *''

Setchellanthus ''Setchellanthus caeruleus'' is a species of pungent shrub with large blue flowers. It is placed alone in the genus ''Setchellanthus'', which is in turn, is placed alone in the family Setchellanthaceae. It is endemic to Mexico. The genus and th ...

'' Brandegee → Setchellanthaceae *'' Stixis'' Lour. → Stixaceae *''

Tirania ''Tirania purpurea'', the sole species in genus ''Tirania'', is a species of climbing plant native to Asia. This genus is related to ''Forchhammeria'' and '' Stixis'', but the placement of these three is uncertain. They were placed in Capparace ...

'' Pierre → Stixaceae *''

Wislizenia ''Wislizenia'' is a genus of flowering plants containing three recognized species native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Common names include spectacle fruit and jackass clover. Like genus ''Cleome'' and several relatives, ...

'' Engelm. → Cleomaceae ;Additional genera to be excluded from the Capparaceae, according to Kers in Kubitzki ;;1. Genera that may be capparalean but do not fit within the Capparaceae *'' Neothorelia'' Gagnep. ;;2. Genera insufficiently known, but whose descriptions indicate they cannot belong to the Capparaceae *''

'' W.W.Sm. →

ceae *'' Keithia'' Spreng. *'' Poilanedora'' Gagnep. ;;3. Genera not treated in Kubitzki, but usually regarded as Capparaceae *'' Buhsia'' Bunge *''

Niebuhria ''Maerua'' is a genus of plants in the family Capparaceae, with its centre of diversity in Africa, though some species extend their range as far north as the Levant, and as far east as the Indian subcontinent and mainland Southeast Asia. Among i ...

'' DC.

References

*Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2006. New combinations in Capparaceae sensu stricto for Flora of Ecuador. ''Harvard Pap. Bot.'' 11(1): 17–18. *Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008a. Two new genera of Capparaceae: ''Sarcotoxicum'' and ''Mesocapparis'' stat. nov., and the reinstatement of ''Neocalyptrocalyx''. ''Harvard Pap. Bot.'' 13(1): 103-116. *Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008b. New combinations in South American Capparaceae. ''Harvard Pap. Bot.'' 13(1): 117-120. *Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008c. ''Anisocapparis'' y ''Monilicarpa'': dos nuevos géneros de Capparaceae de América del Sur. ''J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas'' 2(1): 61-74. *Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008d. The reinstatement of ''Capparidastrum''. ''Harvard Pap. Bot.'' 13(2): 229-236. *Cornejo, X. & H. H. Iltis. 2008e. A revision of ''Colicodendron'' Mart. (Capparaceae s.s.). ''J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas'', 2(1): 75-93. * *Hall, J. C., K. J. Sytsma and H. H. Iltis. 2002. Phylogeny of Capparaceae and Brassicaceae based on chloroplast sequence data. ''American Journal of Botany'' 89: 1826-1842 (abstrac
here
. *Hall, J. C., H. H. Iltis and K. J. Sytsma. 2004. Molecular phylogenetics of core Brassicales, placement of orphan genera ''Emblingia'', ''Forchhammeria'', ''Tirania'', and character evolution. ''Systematic Botany'' 29: 654-669 (abstrac
here
. *Hall, J. C. 2008. Systematics of Capparaceae and Cleomaceae: an evaluation of the generic delimitations of Capparis and Cleome using plastid DNA sequence data. ''Botany'' 86: 682–696. *Iltis, H. H. & Cornejo, X. 2007. Studies in the Capparaceae XXX. ''Capparicordis'', a new genus from the Neotropics. ''Brittonia'' 59: 246–254. *Kers, L. E. 2003. Capparaceae. In: Kubitzki, K. (Series Editor):''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'', Vol.5: K. Kubitzki & C. Bayer (Volume Editors).Springer-Verlag Berlin, 36-56. * Takhtajan, A. 1997. ''Diversity and classification of flowering plants''.

External links

Capparaceae, in Flowering Plants of the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.

in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards).

{{Authority control Brassicales families

Taxonomy

Genera

Excluded genera

References

Further reading

External links