''Euphronia'' is a genus of three species of shrubs native to northern South America and is the only genus in the family Euphroniaceae. It was previously classified in the

Vochysiaceae Vochysiaceae is a plant family belonging to the order of Myrtales. Description Trees or shrubs with opposite leaves; flowers are zygomorph 1-(3)-5 merous; ovary inferior or superior; one fertile stamen; fruits samara or capsules. Biogeograp ...

family and elsewhere due to its unique floral features, but 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 Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fur ...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 recognized Euphroniaceae as distinct and placed ''Euphronia'' in it. Based on molecular data from the rbcL gene, it is sister to the Chrysobalanaceae.

Classification

The genus was originally described by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius and Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini in 1824 when they described ''

Euphronia hirtelloides ''Euphronia'' is a genus of three species of shrubs native to northern South America and is the only genus in the family Euphroniaceae. It was previously classified in the Vochysiaceae family and elsewhere due to its unique floral features, but ...

'' as a new species. In 1918, the German botanist Johannes Gottfried Hallier reclassified what was then known as ''Lightia guianensis'' as a species in this genus: ''

Euphronia guianensis ''Euphronia'' is a genus of three species of shrubs native to northern South America and is the only genus in the family Euphroniaceae. It was previously classified in the Vochysiaceae family and elsewhere due to its unique floral features, but ...

''. And in 1987, the American botanist Julian Alfred Steyermark described the third species, ''

Euphronia acuminatissima ''Euphronia'' is a genus of three species of shrubs native to northern South America and is the only genus in the family Euphroniaceae. It was previously classified in the Vochysiaceae family and elsewhere due to its unique floral features, but ...

''. It was proposed in 1989 that the family Euphroniaceae be erected to contain the genus because it was sufficiently different from other related genera. An analysis of the molecular phylogenetics of these related genera and families in 1998 supported the decision to retain the genus within a monotypic family.

References

Malpighiales genera Malpighiales {{Malpighiales-stub pt:Euphroniaceae