Rhamnaceae

Rhamnaceae is a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family.[2] Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales.[3]

Buckthorn family
Rhamnus pumila Turra
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Juss.
Type genus
Rhamnus
Genera

See text

The range of Rhamnaceae.
Synonyms

Frangulaceae DC.
Phylicaceae J.Agardh
Ziziphaceae Adans. ex Post & Kuntze[1]

The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species.[4] The Rhamnaceae have a worldwide distribution, but are more common in the subtropical and tropical regions. The earliest fossil evidence of Rhamnaceae is from the Late Cretaceous. Fossil flowers have been collected from the Upper Cretaceous of Mexico and the Paleocene of Argentina.[5]

Leaves of family Rhamnaceae members are simple, i.e., the leaf blades are not divided into smaller leaflets.[2] 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.

Bisexual flower of Helinus, with five sepals and petals, and a yellow, annular nectary disk. The small, clawed petals embrace the stamens.
Flowers of Rhamnus saxatilis

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 opposite the petals.[2] The ovary is mostly 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.[6]

Economic uses of the 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

Systematics

Modern molecular phylogenetics recommend the following clade-based classification of Rhamnaceae:[9]

 Elaeagnaceae (outgroup)

Rhamnaceae
Ampeloziziphoids

Ventilago

Bathiorhamnus

Ampelozizyphus

Doerpfeldia

Rhamnoids

Maesopsis

Scutia

Rhamnus

Frangula

Sageretia

Berchemia

Rhamnidium

Rhamnella

Reynosia

Krugiodendron

Karwinskia

Condalia

Ziziphoids

Schistocarpeia

Hovenia

Ziziphus

Paliurus

Gouania

Helinus

Pleuranthodes

Crumenaria

Reissekia

Lasiodiscus

Colubrina

Emmenosperma

Noltea

Trichocephalus

Nesiota

Phylica

Granitites

Alphitonia

Colletieae

Adolphia

Trevoa

Discaria

Kentrothamnus

Colletia

Retanilla

Ceanothus

Pomaderreae

Siegfriedia

Cryptandra

Stenanthemum

Trymalium

Pomaderris

Spyridium

References

  1. "Family: Rhamnaceae Juss., nom. cons". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2003-01-17. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
  2. Flowering Plants of the Santa Monica Mountains, Nancy Dale, 2nd Ed. 2000, p. 166
  3. 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 )
  4. Christenhusz, M. J. M., and Byng, J. W. (2016). "The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase". Phytotaxa. 261 (3): 201–217. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.261.3.1.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. Jud, Nathan A.; Gandolfo, Maria A.; Iglesias, Ari; Wilf, Peter (2017-05-10). "Flowering after disaster: Early Danian buckthorn (Rhamnaceae) flowers and leaves from Patagonia". PLOS ONE. 12 (5): e0176164. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0176164. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5425202. PMID 28489895.
  6. Kummerow, Jochen; Alexander, James V.; Neel, James W.; Fishbeck, Kathleen (January 1978). "Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation in Ceanothus Roots". American Journal of Botany. 65 (1): 63–69. doi:10.1002/j.1537-2197.1978.tb10836.x. JSTOR 2442555.
  7. "Granitites". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.
  8. "GRIN Genera of Rhamnaceae". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
  9. Sun M, Naeem R, Su J-X, Cao Z-Y, J. Burleigh G, Soltis PS, Soltis DE, Chen Z-D. (2016). "Phylogeny of the Rosidae: A dense taxon sampling analysis". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 54 (4): 363–391. doi:10.1111/jse.12211.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
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