Chloranthaceae

Hedyosmum has separate male and female flowers. The male flowers are without bracts and have one stamen, in which the connective is not widened. The female flower is without bracts; the stigma is dry and covered in papillae. Female flowers have a 3-lobed calyx. The fruit, a drupe, has a kernel with a hard and woody shell. There are 43 species found in Latin America, including the Antilles, as well as one species found in Southeast Asia.

Taxonomy

The Chloranthaceae have been recognised as a family in most classifications but without clear relatives.

A 2004 study based on comparisons of homologous DNA fragments indicated that both the family Chloranthaceae and its extant genera Ascarina, Chloranthus, Hedyosmum and Sarcandra are probably monophyletic, with Hedyosmum being the first to diverge from the rest, and Ascarina being the sister group of the clade consisting of Sarcandra and Chloranthus. As of June 2016^[update], these four extant genera are recognized, and insights into their relationships are expressed in the tree below:^[5][11]

The extinct genus Chloranthistemon also belongs to this family.^[12]

Historical classifications

The Cronquist system (1981) assigned the family

to the order Piperales

in subclass Magnoliidae

in class

dicotyledons

]

of division

Magnoliophyta

[=angiosperms].

The

in the order Magnoliales, which was assigned

to superorder

Magnolianae

in subclass Magnoliideae [=dicotyledons],

in class Magnoliopsida [=angiosperms].

The Dahlgren system raised the family to be

its own order

Chloranthales

, which was assigned

to superorder Magnolianae

in subclass Magnoliideae [=dicotyledons],

in class Magnoliopsida [=angiosperms].

References