| Haptanthus hazlettii | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| Order: | unplaced |
| Family: | Haptanthaceae |
| Genus: | Haptanthus |
| Species: | H. hazlettii |
| Binomial name | |
| Haptanthus hazlettii C. Nelson |
|
Haptanthaceae is a monotypic family of flowering plants, the sole genus is Haptanthus containing the sole species Haptanthus hazlettii, shrubs only known at the locality of Matarras, Arizona Municipality, Atlántida Department in Honduras.
Haptanthus has placed in its own family Haptanthaceae C. Nelson by Shipunov in 2005, but is considered among unplaced taxa (taxa incertae sedis) by APG (Stevens, P. F. , Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, 2001 onwards) and others (including Goldberg) for insufficient data: fruits and seeds are still unknown.[1] Haston et al. 2007 (also known as LAPG II) recognized this taxon (Haptanthaceae). [2]
Goldberg (from Smithsonian Institution) has preferred not assign it to any family, after compare it with many other families, the most probable were Flacourtiaceae and Euphorbiaceae. Haptanthus is a true taxonomic enigma. Doust notes its resemblance to the Buxaceae and considers but does not accept various other families, in the end preferring to leave it unplaced.[1] Attempts to sequence DNA from the one known sample failed.[1]
Several attempts were made to recollect material from Haptanthus, but they failed.
It is not clear whether Haptanthus is extinct; the area where it was originally found now mostly contains the introduced grass Megathyrsus maximus.[1]