The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 t ...

s in the order

Myrtales The Myrtales are an order of flowering plants placed as a sister to the eurosids II clade as of the publishing of the ''Eucalyptus grandis'' genome in June 2014. The APG III system of classification for angiosperms still places it within the e ...

. The family includes about 530 species of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

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. They are distinguished from tree ...

s, and

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a t ...

s in ca 10

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

. The family includes the leadwood tree, ''

Combretum imberbe ''Combretum imberbe'' (leadwood, af, hardekool, st, mohwelere-tšhipi, ts, motswiri/mondzo, zu, impondondlovu) is a characteristic and often impressive bushwillow species of the southern Afrotropics. The medium to large tree has a sparse, se ...

''. Three genera, '' Conocarpus'', '' Laguncularia'', and '' Lumnitzera'', grow in

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

habitats (mangals). The Combretaceae are widespread in the

subtropics The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° nort ...

and

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also refer ...

. Some members of this family produce useful construction timber, such as idigbo from '' Terminalia ivorensis''. The commonly cultivated ''

Quisqualis indica ''Combretum indicum'', also known as the Rangoon creeper, is a vine with red flower clusters which is native to tropical Asia. Description The Rangoon creeper is a ligneous vine that can reach from 2.5 meters to up to 8 meters. The leaves are ...

'' is now placed in the genus ''

Combretum ''Combretum'', the bushwillows or combretums, make up the type genus of the family Combretaceae. The genus comprises about 272 species of trees and shrubs, most of which are native to tropical and southern Africa, about 5 to Madagascar, but th ...

''. Many plants in the Quisqualis species contain the Non-proteinogenic amino acid excitotoxin

Quisqualic acid Quisqualic acid is an agonist of the AMPA, kainate, and group I metabotropic glutamate receptors. It is one of the most potent AMPA receptor agonists known. It causes excitotoxicity and is used in neuroscience to selectively destroy neurons in ...

, a potent AMPA agonist.Excitotoxic cell death and delayed rescue in human neurons derived from NT2 cells, M Munir, L Lu and P Mcgonigl, Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 15, 7847–7860

White mangroves

The family name comes from the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal ...

''; it also includes the white mangrove, ''

Laguncularia racemosa ''Laguncularia racemosa'', the white mangrove, is a species of flowering plant in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. It is native to the coasts of western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, the Atlantic Coast of the Americas from Bermuda and ...

'', found along seacoasts in tropical America and West Africa.

Genera

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 ...

'' currently includes:Plants of the World Online: Combretaceae R.Br. (retrieved 19 January 2022)
/ref> #''

'' 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 ''Anogeissus'' is a genus of trees in the family Combretaceae. The 10''Anogeissus''.
...

'', ''

Buchenavia ''Buchenavia'' is a genus of plant in family Combretaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete): * ''Buchenavia grandis'', Ducke * ''Buchenavia hoehneana'', N. Mattos * ''Buchenavia iguaratensis'', N. Mattos * ''Buc ...

'', ''

Bucida ''Bucida'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Indian almond family, Combretaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete): * '' Bucida angustifolia'' * '' Bucida buceras'' L. - Bullet tree (southern Mexico, Centr ...

'', '' Pteleopsis'', ''Terminaliopsis'')

synonyms of ''
Combretum ''Combretum'', the bushwillows or combretums, make up the type genus of the family Combretaceae. The genus comprises about 272 species of trees and shrubs, most of which are native to tropical and southern Africa, about 5 to Madagascar, but th ...
''

*'' Meiostemon'' Exell & Stace *''

Quisqualis The Combretaceae, often called the white mangrove family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Myrtales. The family includes about 530 species of trees, shrubs, and lianas in ca 10 genera. The family includes the leadwood tree, '' Combr ...

'' L. *'' Thiloa'' Eichler

References

External links

* * {{- Myrtales families Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)

White mangroves

Genera

synonyms of ''Combretum ''Combretum'', the bushwillows or combretums, make up the type genus of the family Combretaceae. The genus comprises about 272 species of trees and shrubs, most of which are native to tropical and southern Africa, about 5 to Madagascar, but th ...''

References

External links

synonyms of ''
Combretum ''Combretum'', the bushwillows or combretums, make up the type genus of the family Combretaceae. The genus comprises about 272 species of trees and shrubs, most of which are native to tropical and southern Africa, about 5 to Madagascar, but th ...
''