Lecythidaceae

Lecythidaceae
Illustration of Couroupita guianensis by Lansdown Guilding
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Lecythidaceae
A.Rich.[1]
Type genus
Lecythis
Loefl. [2]
Genera

See text

Synonyms[3]
  • Barringtoniaceae DC. ex F.Rudolphi
  • Scytopetalaceae Engl.
Barringtonia acutangula (freshwater mangrove) fruits in Kolkata, India
Careya arborea in Narsapur, Medak district, India

The Lecythidaceae (/ˌlɛsɪθɪˈdeɪsiː/ LESS-ith-ih-DAY-see) comprise a family of about 30 genera[3] and 250–300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa (including Madagascar), Asia and Australia.

Well known members of the family include the cannonball tree (Couroupita guianensis) and the edible Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa).[4]

Genera

30 genera are currently accepted.[3]

  • Allantoma Miers
  • Asteranthos Desf.
  • Barringtonia J.R.Forst. & G.Forst.
  • Bertholletia Bonpl.
  • Brazzeia Baill.
  • Careya Roxb.
  • Cariniana Casar.
  • Chydenanthus Miers
  • Chytroma Miers
  • Corythophora R.Knuth
  • Couratari Aubl.
  • Couroupita Aubl.
  • Crateranthus Baker f.
  • Eschweilera Mart. ex DC.
  • Foetidia Comm. ex Lam.
  • Grias L.
  • Guaiania O.M.Vargas & C.W.Dick
  • Gustavia L.
  • Imbiriba O.M.Vargas, M.Ribeiro & C.W.Dick
  • Lecythis Loefl.
  • Napoleonaea P.Beauv.
  • Oubanguia Baill.
  • Pachylecythis Ledoux
  • Petersianthus Merr.
  • Pierrina Engl.
  • Planchonia Blume
  • Rhaptopetalum Oliv.
  • Scottmoria Cornejo
  • Scytopetalum Pierre ex Engl.
  • Waimiria C.W.Dick & O.M.Vargas

Taxonomy

According to molecular analysis of Lecythidaceae, including work by Mori et al. (2007),[5] subfamilies include:

Barringtonioidea

Previously Barringtoniaceae;[6] also sensu Takhtajan 1997;[6] this subfamily was also called Planchonioideae (which included Barringtonia). Genera are restricted to the Old World tropics.

  • Barringtonia J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. (synonym Abdulmajidia Whitmore)
  • Careya Roxb.
  • Chydenanthus Miers
  • Petersianthus Merr.
  • Planchonia Blume

Foetidioideae

Previously Foetidiaceae[6] from Madagascar is monogeneric:

  • Foetidia Comm. ex Lam.

Lecythidoideae

Genera restricted to the New World tropics.[7]

  • Allantoma Miers
  • Bertholletia Bonpl.
  • Cariniana Casar.
  • Chytroma Miers
  • Corythophora R.Knuth
  • Couratari Aubl.
  • Couroupita Aubl.
  • Eschweilera Mart. ex DC.
  • Grias L.
  • Guaiania O.M.Vargas & C.W.Dick
  • Gustavia L.
  • Imbiriba O.M.Vargas, M.Ribeiro & C.W.Dick
  • Lecythis Loefl.
  • Pachylecythis Ledoux
  • Scottmoria Cornejo
  • Waimiria C.W.Dick & O.M.Vargas

Scytopetaloideae

The APG II system of 2003 included genera from the family Scytopetalaceae and others

  • Asteranthos Desf., also as Asteranthaceae[6]
  • Brazzeia Verc.
  • Oubanguia Baill.
  • Pierrina Engl.
  • Rhaptopetalum Oliv.
  • Scytopetalum Engl.

Napoleonaeoideae

Previously as family Napoleonaeaceae;[6] species are native to Africa.

  • Crateranthus Baker f., incertae sedis according to Takhtajan,
  • Napoleonaea P.Beauv.

References

  1. ^ Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x. hdl:10654/18083.
  2. ^ "Lecythidaceae A.Rich., Dict. Class. Hist. Nat. [Bory] 9: 269 (1825), nom. cons". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b c "Lecythidaceae A.Rich". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 23 October 2025.
  4. ^ Mori, Scott A.; Tsou, Chi-Hua; Wu, Chi-Chih; Cronholm, Bodil; Anderberg, Arne A. (2007). "Evolution of Lecythidaceae with an emphasis on the circumscription of neotropical genera: Information from combined NDHF and TRNL-F sequence data". American Journal of Botany. 94 (3): 289–301. Bibcode:2007AmJB...94..289M. doi:10.3732/ajb.94.3.289. PMID 21636402.
  5. ^ Mori, S. A.; Tsou, C. -H.; Wu, C. -C.; Cronholm, B.; Anderberg, A. A. (2007). "Evolution of Lecythidaceae with an emphasis on the circumscription of neotropical genera: Information from combined ndhF and trnL-F sequence data". American Journal of Botany. 94 (3): 289–301. Bibcode:2007AmJB...94..289M. doi:10.3732/ajb.94.3.289. PMID 21636402.
  6. ^ a b c d e Takhtajan, A. (1997). Diversity and classification of flowering plants. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10098-1.
  7. ^ Oscar M. Vargas, Drew A. Larson, Juvenal Batista, Xavier Cornejo, Bruno Garcia Luize, Diana Medellín-Zabala, Michel Ribeiro, Nathan P. Smith, Stephen A. Smith, Alberto Vicentini, and Christopher W. Dick "Reclassification of the Bertholletia Clade of the Brazil Nut Family (Lecythidaceae) Based on a Phylogenetic Analysis of Plastome and Target Sequence Capture Data," Harvard Papers in Botany 29(1), 159-179, (30 June 2024). https://doi.org/10.3100/hpib.v29iss1.2024.n18
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