The Cyrillaceae are a small

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 th ...

s in the order

Ericales The Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledons. Species in this order have considerable commercial importance including for tea, persimmon, blueberry, kiwifruit, Brazil nuts, argan, and azalea. The order includes trees, bushes, lia ...

, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. The family comprises two genera, '' Cliftonia'' and ''

Cyrilla ''Cyrilla racemiflora'', the sole species in the genus ''Cyrilla'', is a flowering plant in the family Cyrillaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southeastern United States (coastal areas from southeastern ...

'', each containing a single species, '' Cliftonia monophylla'' and ''

Cyrilla racemiflora ''Cyrilla racemiflora'', the sole species in the genus ''Cyrilla'', is a flowering plant in the family Cyrillaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southeastern United States (coastal areas from southeastern ...

''. However, additional species of ''Cyrilla'' are now often recognized and the genus is in need of taxonomic revision. In the past, many botanists included a third genus, ''

Purdiaea ''Purdiaea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Clethraceae described as a genus in 1846. It is one of two genera in this family, and was formerly classified in the related family Cyrillaceae. ''Purdiaea'' is native to tropical regions ...

'', in the family, though recent research has shown this genus is better placed in the closely related family

Clethraceae The Clethraceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, composed of two genera, ''Clethra'' and '' Purdiaea'', with approximately 75 species. They are native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Asia and the Americas, w ...

Fossil record

Fossil ''Cyrilla'' and ''Cliftonia'' leaves, wood and pollen have been reported from the Neogene

Lower Rhine region The Lower Rhine region or Niederrhein is a region around the Lower Rhine section of the river Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between approximately Oberhausen and Krefeld in the East and the Dutch border around Kleve in the West. ...

brown coal Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

. Leaf fragments of ''Cyrilla'' have been found frequently in brown coals of

central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

. The Cyrillaceae formed part of the

Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

bog flora where they constituted an important component of the shrubby vegetation. Among fossil ''Cyrilla'' from the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

is †''Cyrilla thomsonii'' described from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

of Librar,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

Bełchatów Bełchatów () is a city in central Poland with a population of 55,583 as of December 2021. It is located in Łódź Voivodeship, from Warsaw. The Elektrownia Bełchatów, located in Bełchatów, is the largest coal fueled power plant in ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. † ''Cyrilla hungarica'' described from the

Magyaregregy Magyaregregy ( hr, Gređa) is a village in Baranya county, Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the no ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q132989 Ericales families Ericales