Viscaceae is a

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

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

name of

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 th ...

s. In this circumscription, the family includes the several genera of

mistletoe Mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemiparasitic plants in the order Santalales. They are attached to their host tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium, through which they extract water and nutrients from the host plant. ...

s. This family name is currently being studied and under review as in past decades, several

systems of plant taxonomy A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...

recognized this family, notably the 1981

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants'' (1968; 2nd edition, 1988) a ...

. However, the

APG II system 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 Gro ...

of 2003 does not recognize the family, treating it as a synonym of

Santalaceae The Santalaceae, sandalwoods, are a widely distributed family of flowering plants (including small trees, shrubs, perennial herbs, and epiphytic climbersHewson & George t al.br>''Santalaceae'' taxonomy, 1984, pp. 191-194.) which, like other membe ...

. This did not end the taxonomic debate among

botanists This is a list of botanists who have Wikipedia articles, in alphabetical order by surname. The List of botanists by author abbreviation is mostly a list of plant taxonomists because an author receives a standard abbreviation only when that auth ...

and there are many that still think Viscaceae should be an accepted family name. According to the

APG IV system The APG IV system of flowering plant classification is the fourth version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy for flowering plants (angiosperms) being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). It was publishe ...

Der and Nickrent (2008) found seven well supported clades in Santalaceae, but relationships between these clades are still poorly understood. The traditional and cultural uses of species within the Viscaceae merit further attention. Clades or genera treated as belonging to the currently debated family name Viscaceae include: *''

Arceuthobium The genus ''Arceuthobium'', commonly called dwarf mistletoes, is a genus of 26 species of parasitic plants that parasitize members of Pinaceae and Cupressaceae in North America, Central America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Of the 42 species that ...

'' *''

Dendrophthora ''Dendrophthora'', the tree destroyers, is a genus of flowering plants in the sandalwood family Santalaceae, native to tropical and subtropical Latin America and the Caribbean. They are hemiparasitic mistletoes that grow on a wide variety of host ...

'' *''

Ginalloa ''Ginalloa'' is a genus of parasitic mistletoes found in southern and south-eastern Asia. The various species are found in the Andaman Islands and Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, the island of Borneo, the island of Java and Papua provinc ...

'' *''

Korthalsella ''Korthalsella'' (korthal mistletoe) is a genus of flowering plants in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae (sometimes/formerly considered to be in Viscaceae). It contains about 25 species distributed in Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and s ...

'' *''

Notothixos ''Notothixos''Oliver D (1863) ''J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot.'' 7: 103 864 publ. 1863/ref> is a genus of mistletoe plant in the family Santalaceae. Species The Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life is an online database that provides an ind ...

'' *''

Phoradendron ''Phoradendron'' is a genus of mistletoe, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Americas. The center of diversity is the Amazon rainforest.Coder, K. DAmerican mistletoe (''Phoradendron serotinum'' var. ''serotinum'') infectio ...

'' *''

Viscum ''Viscum'' is a genus of about 70–100 species of mistletoes, native to temperate and tropical regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. Traditionally, the genus has been placed in its own family Viscaceae, but recent genetic research by ...

References

AP-Website: Santalales
{{Authority control Historically recognized angiosperm families