Tetracentraceae

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iTetracentraceae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae,
eudicots
Order: unplaced
Family: Tetracentraceae
A.C.Sm. (1945)
genera

see text

Tetracentraceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognized by many taxonomists.

The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), does not accept such a family, not as such: it assumes the plants involved to belong to family Trochodendraceae. However, APG and APG II do allow the option of segregating family Tetracentraceae, as an optional segregate. This family is unplaced as to order and left among the basal lineages of the eudicots.

This segregation would lead to two families of each one species, of trees: Tetracentraceae with Tetracentron sinense and Trochodendraceae with Trochodendron aralioides. These two species share the feature of secondary xylem without vessels, which is quite rare in angiosperms. As the vesselless wood suggested primitiveness these two species have alway attracted taxonomic attention.

The Cronquist system, of 1981, accepted both families and placed these in the order Trochodendrales, in subclass Hamamelidae [sic], in class Magnoliopsida [=dicotyledons].

The Dahlgren system made the same choice at the rank of family and order, but placed this order in superorder Rosanae in subclass Magnoliidae [=dicotyledons].

The Engler system, in its update of 1964, placed both families in a rather large order Magnoliales, in subclass Archychlamydeae in class Dicotyledoneae.

The Wettstein system, last updated in 1935, united the two species in family Trochodendraceae which was placed in order Polycarpicae (the predecessor of order Magnoliales), in subclass Choripetalae, in class Dicotyledones.

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