Altingiaceae
Encyclopedia
Altingiaceae, a small family
of flowering plant
s in the order
Saxifragales
, are wind-pollinated
trees that produce hard, wood
y fruit
s containing numerous seed
s. The fruits have been studied in considerable detail. They naturally occur
in Central America
, Mexico
, eastern North America
, the eastern Mediterranean
, China
, and tropical Asia
. They are often cultivated as ornamentals
and many produce valuable wood
.
: Altingia
, Liquidambar, and Semiliquidambar
. These three currently recognized genera represent a rapid radiation and have been difficult to separate reliably. Semiliquidambar has recently been shown to be hybrids of species of Altingia and Liquidambar. This result had been expected for some time. Altingia and Liquidambar are known to be paraphyletic and a revision of the family is being prepared. Many of the species
are closely related, and distinctions between them are likely to be artificial. Consequently, there is disagreement over the number of species. Altingia currently has six to eight recognized species. Liquidambar has four or five species, and Semiliquidambar has two to four.
. Some attribute the name to John Lindley
, who published it in 1846. Others say that the authority for the name is Paul F. Horaninov, who described the group in 1841. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, tha family Altingiaceae was not generally accepted. Most authors placed these genera in Hamamelidaceae
and this treatment has been followed in some recent works as well. In the twenty-first century, however, molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that including Altingiaceae in Hamamelidaceae makes Hamamelidaceae paraphyletic. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group recognizes four families in the lineage including Altingiaceae. Cercidiphyllaceae and Daphniphyllaceae are sister. This clade is sister to Hamamelidaceae
and these three families are sister to Altingiaceae. The clade is sister to Paeoniaceae
record. For most of the Paleogene
and Neogene
, they were more widely distributed
than they are today. The stem group Altingiaceae diverged
from the clade
[Hamamelidaceae + (Cercidiphyllaceae + Daphniphyllaceae)] in the Turonian
stage of the Cretaceous
Period, about 90 mya (million years ago). The crown group
Altingiaceae is much more recent, originating in the Eocene
, about 40 Mya.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of flowering plant
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
s in the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Saxifragales
Saxifragales
Saxifragales is an order of flowering plants. Their closest relatives are a large eudicot group known as the rosids by the definition of rosids given in the APG II classification system. Some authors define the rosids more widely, including Saxifragales as their most basal group. Saxifragales is...
, are wind-pollinated
Anemophily
Anemophily or wind pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by wind. Anemophilous plants may be either gymnosperms or angiosperms ....
trees that produce hard, wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
y fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s containing numerous seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s. The fruits have been studied in considerable detail. They naturally occur
Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...
in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, eastern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, the eastern Mediterranean
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and tropical Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. They are often cultivated as ornamentals
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
and many produce valuable wood
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
.
Classification
Altingiaceae comprise three generaGenera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
: Altingia
Altingia
Altingia is a genus of 11 species of flowering plants in the family Altingiaceae, formerly often treated in the related family Hamamelidaceae. The genus is native to southeastern Asia, in Bhutan, Cambodia, southern China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam...
, Liquidambar, and Semiliquidambar
Semiliquidambar
Semiliquidambar is a genus of plants, most recently treated in family Altingiaceae, though previously often treated in Hamamelidaceae. Recent research suggests that it may not be a true genus, but that the species normally treated within it are hybrids of other species of Altingiaceae; the taxonomy...
. These three currently recognized genera represent a rapid radiation and have been difficult to separate reliably. Semiliquidambar has recently been shown to be hybrids of species of Altingia and Liquidambar. This result had been expected for some time. Altingia and Liquidambar are known to be paraphyletic and a revision of the family is being prepared. Many of the species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
are closely related, and distinctions between them are likely to be artificial. Consequently, there is disagreement over the number of species. Altingia currently has six to eight recognized species. Liquidambar has four or five species, and Semiliquidambar has two to four.
History
The name "Altingiaceae" has a long and complex taxonomic historyHistory of plant systematics
The history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lore usually being treated as part of the study of...
. Some attribute the name to John Lindley
John Lindley
John Lindley FRS was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.-Early years:Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden...
, who published it in 1846. Others say that the authority for the name is Paul F. Horaninov, who described the group in 1841. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, tha family Altingiaceae was not generally accepted. Most authors placed these genera in Hamamelidaceae
Hamamelidaceae
The Hamamelidaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales, including 27 genera and about 80-90 species, all shrubs and small trees...
and this treatment has been followed in some recent works as well. In the twenty-first century, however, molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that including Altingiaceae in Hamamelidaceae makes Hamamelidaceae paraphyletic. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group recognizes four families in the lineage including Altingiaceae. Cercidiphyllaceae and Daphniphyllaceae are sister. This clade is sister to Hamamelidaceae
Hamamelidaceae
The Hamamelidaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales, including 27 genera and about 80-90 species, all shrubs and small trees...
and these three families are sister to Altingiaceae. The clade is sister to Paeoniaceae
Evolution
Altingiaceae have an extensive fossilFossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
record. For most of the Paleogene
Paleogene
The Paleogene is a geologic period and system that began 65.5 ± 0.3 and ended 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and comprises the first part of the Cenozoic Era...
and Neogene
Neogene
The Neogene is a geologic period and system in the International Commission on Stratigraphy Geologic Timescale starting 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and ending 2.588 million years ago...
, they were more widely distributed
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...
than they are today. The stem group Altingiaceae diverged
Evolutionary radiation
An evolutionary radiation is an increase in taxonomic diversity or morphological disparity, due to adaptive change or the opening of ecospace. Radiations may affect one clade or many, and be rapid or gradual; where they are rapid, and driven by a single lineage's adaptation to their environment,...
from the clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
[Hamamelidaceae + (Cercidiphyllaceae + Daphniphyllaceae)] in the Turonian
Turonian
The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous series. It spans the time between 93.5 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.3 ± 1 Ma...
stage of the Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
Period, about 90 mya (million years ago). The crown group
Crown group
A crown group is a group consisting of living representatives, their ancestors back to the most recent common ancestor of that group, and all of that ancestor's descendants. The name was given by Willi Hennig, the formulator of phylogenetic systematics, as a way of classifying living organisms...
Altingiaceae is much more recent, originating in the Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
, about 40 Mya.