| Crypteroniaceae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dactylocladus stenostachys (Hooker'sIcones Plantarum) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Crypteroniaceae A.DC.[1] |
TheCrypteroniaceae are afamily offloweringtrees andshrubs. The family includes 13 species in threegenera,[2] native toIndomalaya.
There are three genera of Crypteroniaceae, all native to Asiantropical forests:
The genusAxinandra includes four species, one inSri Lanka (A. zeylanica) and the others inBorneo and theMalay Peninsula.Crypteronia includes seven species, ranging from easternIndia throughSoutheast Asia and southernChina to theMalay Peninsula,Indonesia, andNew Guinea.Dactylocladus consists of a single species, native to the lowland peat swamp forests of Borneo.
Morphological analyses, supported by recent chloroplast DNA analysis, indicates that Crypteroniaceae are most closely related to four smallmyrtalean families,Penaeaceae,Oliniaceae, andRhynchocalycaceae of southernAfrica, andAlzateaceae ofCentral andSouth America. The common ancestor of these five families is thought to have originated in westernGondwana during theCretaceous epoch, and the Crypteroniaceae were carried northward with India after the breakup of the southern supercontinent, differentiating into the three genera before India's collision withAsia. The genera subsequently spread from India to the moist tropical forests of Southeast Asia.
Data related toCrypteroniaceae at Wikispecies