Melanthiaceae

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Melanthiaceae
Schoenocaulon officinale
Schoenocaulon officinale
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Melanthiaceae
Batsch ex Borkh.
Genera

See text

Melanthiaceae is a family of flowering perennial herbs in the Northern Hemisphere.[1] The family has been recognized by relatively few taxonomists, and the circumscription has varied. Many authors have considered these plants to belong to the family Liliaceae, in part because both their sepals and petals closely resemble each other and are often large and showy like the flowers of the Lily Family.[1]

The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), does recognize such a family and places it in the order Liliales, in the clade monocots. As circumscribed by APG II it includes 11-16 genera of the plants that sometimes have been treated as family Trilliaceae. The family includes Paris quadrifolia and Trillium.

[edit] Genera

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Zomlefer, WB; NH Williams, WM Whitten, WS Judd (2001). "Generic circumscriptions and relationships in the tribe Melanthieae (Liliales, Melanthiaceae), with emphasis on Zigadenus: Evidence from ITS and TRNL-F sequence date". American Journal of Botany 88 (9): 1657-1669. Botanical Society of America. 

[edit] External links

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