Rhamnaceae

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Buckthorn family
Rhamnus cathartica L.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales[1]
Family: Rhamnaceae
Juss.
Type genus
Rhamnus
L.
Genera

See text.

Synonyms

Frangulaceae DC.
Phylicaceae J.Agardh
Ziziphaceae Adans. ex Post & Kuntze[2]

Rhamnaceae, the Buckthorn family, is a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs and some vines.

The family contains 50-60 genera and approximately 870-900 species. Rhamnaceae have a worldwide distribution, but are more common in the subtropical and tropical regions. The earliest fossil evidence of Rhamnaceae is from the Eocene.

The simple leaves can be either alternate and spiraling, or opposite. Stipules are present. These leaves are modified into spines in many genera, in some (e.g. Paliurus spina-christi and Colletia cruciata) spectacularly so. Colletia stands out by having two axillary buds instead of one, one developing into a thorn, the other one into a shoot.

Flowers of Ceanothus cuneatus
Bisexual flower of a Helinus species, with 5 sepals and 5 petals, and a yellow, annular nectary disk. The small, clawed petals embrace the stamens.

The flowers are radially symmetrical. There are 5 (sometimes 4) separate sepals and 5 (sometimes 4 or none) separate petals. The petals may be white, yellowish, greenish, pink or blue, and are small and inconspicuous in most genera, though in some (e.g. Ceanothus) the dense clusters of flowers are conspicuous. The 5 or 4 stamens are isomerous with the petals (i.e. one stamen opposite each petal). The ovary is superior, with 2 or 3 ovules (or one by abortion).

The fruits are mostly berries, fleshy drupes or nuts. Some are adapted to wind carriage, but most are dispersed by mammals and birds. Chinese jujube is the fruit of the jujube tree (Ziziphus zizyphus) and is a major fruit in China.

The American genus Ceanothus, which has several showy ornamental species, has nitrogen-fixing root nodules.

Economic uses of Rhamnaceae are chiefly as ornamental plants and as the source of many brilliant green and yellow dyes. The wood of Rhamnus was also the most favoured species to make charcoal for use in gunpowder before the development of modern propellants.

Genera

Tribe Ampelozizipheae
Tribe Bathiorhamneae
  • Bathiorhamnus Capuron
Tribe Colletieae
  • Adolphia Meisn.
  • Colletia Comm. ex Juss.
  • Discaria Hook.
  • Kentrothamnus Suess. & Overkott
  • Ochetophila Poepp. ex Reissek
  • Retanilla (DC.) Brongn.
  • Trevoa Miers ex Hook.
Tribe Doerpfeldieae
  • Doerpfeldia Urb.
Tribe Gouanieae
  • Alvimiantha Grey-Wilson
  • Crumenaria Mart.
  • Gouania Jacq.
  • Helinus E.Mey. ex Endl.
  • Johnstonalia Tortosa (originally named Johnstonia; by some treated as Gouania)
  • Pleuranthodes Weberb.
  • Reissekia Endl.
Tribe Maesopsideae
  • Maesopsis Engl.
Tribe Paliurieae
Tribe Phyliceae
Tribe Pomaderreae
  • Blackallia C.A.Gardner
  • Cryptandra Sm.
  • Papistylus Kellermann, Rye & K.R.Thiele
  • Polianthon K.R.Thiele
  • Pomaderris Labill.
  • Serichonus K.R.Thiele
  • Siegfriedia C.A.Gardner
  • Spyridium Fenzl
  • Stenanthemum Reissek
  • Trymalium Fenzl
Tribe Rhamneae
Tribe Ventilagineae
Incertae sedis

References

  1. ↑ Walter S. Judd and Richard G. Olmstead (2004). "A survey of tricolpate (eudicot) phylogenetic relationships". American Journal of Botany 91 (10): 1627–1644. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1627. PMID 21652313.  (full text )
  2. ↑ "Family: Rhamnaceae Juss., nom. cons.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2003-01-17. Retrieved 2011-01-29. 
  3. ↑ "Granitites". FloraBase. Department of Environment and Conservation, Government of Western Australia. 
  4. ↑ "GRIN Genera of Rhamnaceae". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United. Retrieved 2011-01-29. 

External links

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