The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the order
Myrtales. The family includes about 530 species of trees, shrubs, and
lianas in 10
genera.
The family includes the leadwood tree, ''
Combretum imberbe''. Three genera, ''
Conocarpus'', ''
Laguncularia'', and ''
Lumnitzera'', grow in
mangrove habitats (mangals).
The Combretaceae are widespread in the subtropics and tropics. Some members of this family produce useful construction timber, such as idigbo from ''
Terminalia ivorensis''. The commonly cultivated ''
Quisqualis indica'' (as well as the entire former genus ''Quisqualis'') is now placed in the genus ''
Combretum''. Many plants in the former ''Quisqualis'' genus contain the
excitotoxin quisqualic acid, a potent
AMPA agonist.
White mangroves
The family name comes from the
type genus ''
Combretum''; it also includes the white mangrove, ''
Laguncularia racemosa'', found along seacoasts in tropical America and West Africa.
Genera
''
Plants of the World Online'' currently includes:
[Plants of the World Online: Combretaceae R.Br. (retrieved 19 January 2022)]
/ref>
*'' Combretum'' Loefl.
*'' Conocarpus'' L.
*'' Dansiea'' Byrnes
*'' Getonia'' Roxb. (synonym ''Calycopteris'')
*'' Guiera'' Adans. ex Juss.
*'' Laguncularia'' C.F.Gaertn. (monotypic)
*'' Lumnitzera'' Willd.
*'' Macropteranthes'' F.Muell.
*'' Strephonema'' Hook.f.
*'' Terminalia'' L. (synonyms: '' Anogeissus'', '' Buchenavia'', '' Bucida'', '' Pteleopsis'', ''Terminaliopsis'')
synonyms of '' Combretum''
*'' Meiostemon'' Exell & Stace
*'' Quisqualis'' L.
*'' Thiloa'' Eichler
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Myrtales families
Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)