Columelliaceae is a family of trees and shrubs native to the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

.Missouri Botanical Garden classification system
/ref> In the

APG II 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 Gr ...

taxonomy it is placed in the order

Lamiales The order Lamiales (also known as the mint order) are an order in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It includes about 23,810 species, 1,059 genera, and is divided into about 25 families. These families include Acanthaceae, Bi ...

, but a 2008 study suggested that the family is sister to the

Bruniaceae Bruniaceae is a family of shrubs native to the cape region of South Africa. They are mostly restricted to the Cape Province, but a small number of species occur in KwaZulu-Natal. Description Species belonging to the Bruniaceae are heath-like s ...

, and 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 ...

proposes incorporating this finding by placing both families in order

Bruniales Bruniales is a valid botanic name at the rank of order. Until recently it was not in use, but a 2008 study suggested that Bruniaceae and Columelliaceae are sister clades. The latest revision of the APG system, APG III, places both families as th ...

. 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 Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fur ...

of 2009 thus does place Columelliaceae in the Bruniales.

References

External links

* * Asterid families Bruniales Flora of South America {{asterid-stub