Macarthuriaceae is a family of plants in the order

Caryophyllales Caryophyllales ( ) is a diverse and heterogeneous order of flowering plants that includes the cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, beets, and many carnivorous plants. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves. The betalai ...

and consists of a single genus, ''

Macarthuria ''Macarthuria'' is a genus of dicotyledonous plants belonging to the family Macarthuriaceae, and consists of about 9 species which are endemic to Australia. Description Plants in the genus, ''Macarthuria'', are rigid or wiry herbs or subshrubs. ...

''.

Description

Macarthuriaceae are rigid or wiry, rush-like herbs or subshrubs with green stems and reduced leaves. The small flowers have five perianth members, sometimes also five "petals", and eight stamens fused at the base.

Taxonomy

In 2009, ''

'' was placed with ''

Limeum ''Limeum'' is a genus of flowering plants. It includes 25 species. ''Limeum'' has traditionally been recognized as belonging to the Molluginaceae family, but is now treated as the sole genus in the family Limeaceae. The family is newly recognize ...

'' in the

Limeaceae ''Limeum'' is a genus of flowering plants. It includes 25 species. ''Limeum'' has traditionally been recognized as belonging to the Molluginaceae family, but is now treated as the sole genus in the family Limeaceae. The family is newly recognize ...

, based on its morphology, but at that time no molecular material of ''

'' had been examined. Prior to this, Endress and Bittrich had placed it in the family

Molluginaceae The Molluginaceae are a family of flowering plants recognized by several taxonomists. It was previously included in the larger family Aizoaceae. The APG III system of 2009 made no change in the status of the family as compared to the APG II syst ...

. However, in 2011, molecular evidence was published, showing that ''

'' is sister to all core

. Thus, ''

'' needed to be placed in a family of its own, Macarthuriaceae.

References

Caryophyllales families Monogeneric plant families Taxa named by Maarten J. M. Christenhusz {{Caryophyllales-stub