The Penaeaceae are a

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 ...

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

, leathery-leaved shrubs and small trees, native to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. The family has 29

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

in 9

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards)
Penaeaceae.Angiosperm Phylogeny Website.
Version 12, July 2012 nd more or less continuously updated since Accessed online: 5 June 2013. The family Penaeaceae was expanded under the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fu ...

of classification with the inclusion of the genera ''

Olinia ''Olinia'' is a genus of small trees and shrubs with 10 species in the family Penaeaceae. The species of ''Olinia'' are native to Africa, ranging from west Africa to South Africa. It was previously regarded as the sole genus in the family Olini ...

'' (formerly in the monogeneric Oliniaceae) and the single species from the genus ''

Rhynchocalyx ''Rhynchocalyx lawsonioides'' is a small flowering tree, the sole species of the genus ''Rhynchocalyx''. It had also previously been regarded as the only species in the monogeneric family Rhynchocalycaceae but is now included in the expanded Pen ...

'' (formerly in the monogeneric Rhynchocalycaceae).

References

Myrtales families {{Myrtales-stub