| Melanthiaceae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Schoenocaulon officinale | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: | Melanthiaceae Batsch exBorkh.[1] |
| Genera | |
See text | |
Melanthiaceae, also called thebunchflower family,[2][3] is afamily offloweringherbaceousperennial plants native to theNorthern Hemisphere.[4] Along with many otherlilioid monocots, early authors considered members of this family to belong to the familyLiliaceae, in part because both their sepals and petals closely resemble each other and are often large and showy like those oflilies,[4] while some more recent taxonomists have placed them in a familyTrilliaceae. The most authoritative modern treatment, however, theAPG III system of 2009 (unchanged from the 2003APG II system and the 1998APG system), places the family in the orderLiliales, in the clademonocots.Circumscribed in this way, the family includes up to 17 genera.
Familiar members of the family include the generaParis andTrillium.
As of August 2013[update], theWorld Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepted 17 genera in the family.[5] They have been divided into five tribes. It has a total of c. 173 known species.[6] Generic assignments within the tribeMelanthieae in particular have been changed radically as a result ofmolecular phylogenetic studies in the 21st century.[4] Some taxonomists have combined the three genera of Heloniadae into one genus (Helonias).[7]
Media related toMelanthiaceae at Wikimedia Commons
