''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 the APG III system 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 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 ...

Classification

The genus was originally described by

Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Life Martius was born at Erlangen, the son of Prof Ernst Wilhelm Martius, court apothecary. He graduated PhD ...

and

Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini Joseph Gerhard Zuccarini (10 August 1797 – 18 February 1848) was a German botanist, Professor of Botany at the University of Munich. He worked extensively with Philipp Franz von Siebold, assisting in describing his collections from Japan, but al ...

in 1824 when they described '' Euphronia hirtelloides'' as a new species. In 1918, the German botanist

Johannes Gottfried Hallier Johannes (Hans) Gottfried Hallier (6 July 1868 – 10 March 1932) was a German botanist born in Jena. He studied botany and zoology at the University of Jena under Christian Ernst Stahl (1848–1919) and Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919), and contin ...

reclassified what was then known as ''Lightia guianensis'' as a species in this genus: '' Euphronia guianensis''. And in 1987, the American botanist

Julian Alfred Steyermark Julian Alfred Steyermark (January 27, 1909 – October 15, 1988) was a Venezuelan American botanist. His focus was on New World vegetation, and he specialized in the family Rubiaceae. Life and work Julian Alfred Steyermark was born in St. Louis, ...

described the third species, '' Euphronia acuminatissima''. 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