Magnoliales
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Magnoliales, themagnolia order of flowering plants, consisting of 6 families, 154genera, and about 3,000 species. Members of Magnoliales include woodyshrubs, climbers, andtrees. Along with the ordersLaurales,Piperales, andCanellales, Magnoliales forms the magnoliid clade, which is an early evolutionary branch in theangiosperm tree; the clade corresponds to part of the subclassMagnoliidae under the old Cronquist botanicalclassification system. The families in the order areAnnonaceae,Myristicaceae,Magnoliaceae, Degeneriaceae, Eupomatiaceae, and Himantandraceae.
Distribution and abundance
Annonaceae, or thecustard apple family, contains about 130 genera and 2,220 species. It includescherimoya,soursop,ylang-ylang, andlancewood. Members of Annonaceae grow throughout the tropics. They are particularly characteristic of lowland evergreen forests in Asia and Africa. Five of the generacombined contain more than one-third of the species in the family, namelyGuatteria (250 species),Uvaria (175 species),Xylopia (150 species),Polyalthia (100 species), andAnnona (120 species).Asimina (8 species) is restricted to easternNorth America and contains the only temperate-adapted species in the family,A. triloba (pawpaw), which extends as far north as the lowerGreat Lakes.
The next largest families in the order,Myristicaceae, or thenutmeg family, andMagnoliaceae, or the magnolia family, together account for less than 20 percent of the species in Magnoliales. Myristicaceae is a tropical family with members inCentral America, the northern half ofSouth America,Central Africa, Asia (including most ofIndia, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines),New Guinea, and northern Queensland, Austl. The largestgenus,Myristica (includingM. fragrans, the source of nutmeg andmace), has about 175 species.
The delimitation of genera in Magnoliaceae has changed, based on molecular studies, to the recognition of just two genera,Magnolia (225 species) andLiriodendron (2 species).Liriodendron (tulip tree) has one species in China and one in the easternUnited States. Such a bicentric dispersal suggests a more continuous distribution in the past.Magnolia is widely distributed in temperate and tropicalSoutheast Asia, from the Himalayas to Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and New Guinea. Other species are found in the temperate southeastern United States, Central America, northern South America, and Brazil. Many species of Magnolia are cultivated;Magnolia grandiflora (bull bay, orSouthern magnolia), for example, grows in forests from southern Virginia to eastern Texas and extends into theWest Indies. Another American species,M. ashei, however, is found only in a few counties in Florida.
Degeneriaceae consists of one genus in Fiji.Degeneria vitiensis, as the species name indicates, was found onViti Levu, the largest island of the Fijianarchipelago. It is a relatively commontree that occurs mostly in upland forests on steep slopes, and it has been used for timber. A second species,D. roseiflora, was described in 1988 on different Fijian islands—namely,Vanua Levu andTaveuni. It is also a fairly common timber tree that differs from the first species in having magenta or pink flowers, smaller fruits, and bark of a different colour.
Eupomatiaceae consists of one genus,Eupomatia, with two species.Eupomatia laurina is a common rainforestshrub in New Guinea andAustralia, from southern Australia along the eastern coast as far north as tropical Queensland. The other species,Eupomatia bennettii, is much less common and is restricted to Australia, where it occurs near the coastal regions of northernNew South Wales and Queensland.
Himantandraceae contains one genus,Galbulimima (also known asHimantandra), found in theMolucca Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, New Guinea, and northeastern Australia.
Economic and ecological importance
Annonaceae
Timber
Because the familyAnnonaceae is by far the largest in the Magnoliales order, it is not surprising that this group includes the most species that yield some type of economic product. The wood of many members of Annonaceae is very pliable, and many of the edible fruits have commercial value.Oxandra lanceolata (lancewood), from northern South America and the West Indies, is undoubtedly the most important commercial timber source in this family. The wood is yellow to olive-yellow, hard, heavy, and of fine texture, and it has a very straight grain. Thesecharacteristics make the wood suitable for use in scientific instruments, turnery (objects shaped by lathe), tool handles, and such sporting goods as archery bows and fishing rods.Guatteria boyacana (solera, or Colombian lancewood) has most of the same properties and uses, though it is not as well known in the timber trade.Enantia chlorantha (African whitewood), a yellowwood from Liberia,Ivory Coast, and Cameroon, produces a sulfurous yellow dye; the wood also is used locally to make unpainted furniture and veneers.Cleistopholis patens (otu) yields a soft, light wood fromwestern Africa that finds some of the same uses asbalsa wood—e.g., in buoys, life rafts, and floats. The fibrous inner bark is of some value for cordage and coarse netting. In South America, balsalike wood is obtained fromHeteropetalum brasiliense, which grows along “blackwater” streams (swampy rivers stained dark by organic acids) in the upperOrinoco andRío Negro basins of Amazonia.
Polyalthia longifolia is a tall, handsome tree with pendent linear leaves that iscultivated in most parts ofSri Lanka and India as an avenue tree and around temples for its religious significance. Although the wood is not very durable, it is utilized to some extent in making matches, boxes, and packing crates. Other woods of the Annonaceae family in India and Myanmar that have some commercial value are derived from the generaMiliusa,Sageraea,Mitrephora,Saccopetalum, andCyathocalyx. Because of their tough and elastic qualities, these woods are utilized in the manufacture of tool handles, wheel spokes, and sporting goods.
Certain Asiatic species ofPolyalthia (P. cerasoides andP. korinti),Uvaria (U. burahol,U. dulcis, andU. heterophylla), andArtabotrys produceedible fruit, as do African species ofUvaria (U. chamae andU. globosa).
The wood ofXylopia aethiopica is quite flexible and has some local use in west-central Africa for masts, boat paddles, and rudders. It has been described as termite-proof and, accordingly, is used for house posts and beams. The dried black fruits of this species are calledguinea peppers and were once of commercial importance in Europe as a tangy condiment and drug.