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 Merosity (from the greek "méros," which means "having parts") refers to the number of component parts in a distinct whorl of a plant structure. The term is most commonly used in the context of a flower where it refers to the number of sepals in a ...
; ovary inferior or superior; one fertile stamen; fruits
samara or
capsules.
Biogeography
Six of the eight genera are native to the
Neotropics
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bioge ...
. The genera ''
Erismadelphus'' and ''
Korupodendron'' are native to West and Central Africa.
Evolutionary history
The family likely originated in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
. ''Erismadelphus'' is thought to have diverged from ''
Erisma'' approximately 30 million years ago, and traveled to
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
as the result of long-distance dispersal.
Systematics
Vochysiaceae are closest to
Myrtaceae.
[Conti, E., A. Litt, P.G. Wilson, S.A Graham, B.G. Briggs, L.A.S. Johnson, K.J. Sytsma. 1997. Interfamiliar relationships in Myrtales: molecular phylogeny and patterns of morphological evolution. Systematic Botany 22: 629-647] Vochysiaceae consist of 7 genera with 217 species. The family is classified in two tribes:
Tribe Erismeae : one inferior ovary and winged fruits
* ''
Erisma'' Rudge (20 species)
* ''
Erismadelphus'' Mildbr. (2 species)
* ''
Korupodendron'' Litt & Cheek (1 species)
Tribe Vochysieae: three fused superior ovaries and capsule fruits
* ''
Callisthene
''Callisthene'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family 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; ov ...
'' Mart. (10 species)
* ''
Qualea
''Qualea'' is a flowering plant genus in the family Vochysiaceae. These plants occur in the Neotropics and their wood makes good timber and firewood and is used in construction. Some species of ''Qualea'' have medicinal properties.
Species
...
'' Aubl. (60 species)
* ''
Salvertia'' A.St.-Hil. (1 species)
* ''
Ruizterania'' Marc.-Bert. (19 species)
* ''
Vochysia'' Aubl. (105 species)
The genus ''
Euphronia'', previously included in Vochysiaceae, is unrelated and now stands alone in the family
Euphroniaceae, more closely related to the family
Chrysobalanaceae
Chrysobalanaceae is a family of flowering plants, consisting of trees and shrubs in 27 genera and about 700 species of pantropical distribution with a centre of diversity in the Amazon. Some of the species contain silica in their bodies for ri ...
.
References
Family of Vochysiaceaelin
(engl.)
*Amy Litt & Dennis W. Stevenson: ''Floral development and morphology of Vochysiaceae. I. The structure of the gynoecium'' in ''American Journal of Botany'', 90, 2003, S. 1533-1547
Online.*M. L. Kawasaki: ''Vochysiaceae'', S. 480-487 in Klaus Kubitzki: ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'', Volume 9, ''Flowering Plants - Eudicots'', Springer Berlin, Heidelberg, 2007, .
*F. Carnevale Neto et al.: Vochysiaceae: secondary metabolites, ethnopharmacology and pharmacological potential, "Phytochemistry Reviews" (Print), v. 10, p. 413-429, 2011
DOI: 10.1007/s11101-011-9213-5
{{Taxonbar, from=Q131743
Myrtales families