Terpene

Calycanthaceae
Temporal range: Turonian - recent[1] Possible Aptian record
Calycanthus floridus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Laurales
Family: Calycanthaceae
Lindl.[2]
Genera

The Calycanthaceae (sweetshrubs or spicebushes) are a small family of flowering plants in the order Laurales. The family contains three genera and only 10 known species [3], restricted to warm temperate and tropical regions:

Calycanthaceae

Calycanthus (three species; western and southeastern North America and one species in eastern Asia)

Chimonanthus (six species; eastern Asia)

Idiospermum (one species; Queensland, Australia)

They are aromatic, deciduous shrubs growing to 2–4 m tall, except for Idiospermum, which is a large evergreen tree. The flowers are white to red, with spirally arranged tepals. DNA-based phylogenies indicate the Northern Hemisphere Calycanthus and Chimonanthus diverged from each other in the mid-Miocene, while the Australian Idiospermum had already diverged by the Upper Cretaceous and likely represents a remnant of a former Gondwanan distribution of Calycanthaceae.

The oldest definitive fossil of the family is Jerseyanthus from the Turonian of New Jersey; the even earlier Araripia from the Aptian of Brazil and Virginianthus from the Albian of Virginia may also represent members of the family, but may also be stem-Calycanthaceae or more basal Laurales.[1] In 2024, Araripia was placed in its own order, Araripiaceae.[4]

In the APG IV system of 2016, Calycanthaceae is placed in the Laurales order in the magnoliids clade.[5]

References

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