Scheinellergewächse

Scheinellergewächse
	Alder-leaved cinnamon ( Clethra alnifolia )
Systematics
Class :	Bedecktsamer (Magnoliopsida)
	Eudicotyledons
	Nuclear eudicotyledons
	Asterids
Order :	Heather-like (Ericales)
Family :	Scheinellergewächse
Scientific name
	Clethraceae
	Klotzsch

The Scheinellergewächse (Clethraceae) are a family of plants from the order of the heather-like (Ericales), with only two genera and around 95 species .

description

Species of the Clethraceae are evergreen or deciduous, woody plants: small trees or shrubs . The bark of the branches is hairy at least as long as they are young. The alternate, spirally arranged in clusters at the ends of the branches leaves are medium sized, usually serrated, leathery to herbaceous. The stomata are paracytic and actinocytic. Stipules are missing.

The terminal, individually or in small groups standing together, racemose inflorescences are mostly multi-flowered. The small, hermaphrodite, radially symmetrical flowers have a double perianth and are usually five-fold. There are five (rarely six) sepals . The five (rarely six) petals are fused at most at their base. There are two circles with five or rarely only two stamens each; they are mostly fused with the base of the petals. Three carpels are an above-permanent (syncarp) ovary grown. The stylus ends in a three-column or three-lobed scar .

Globular to hemispherical, triple capsule fruits are formed. The seeds can be winged.

distribution

The family has a mainly tropical-montane to subtropical distribution. The entire area is disjoint : In the Neotropic, its area extends from the southern states of the USA via Mexico to about the equator in South America and Cuba . Another area is Eastern Asia and the Malay Archipelago . There is one species in Madeira .

Systematics

The Clethraceae family was first published in 1851 by Johann Friedrich Klotzsch in Linnaea , Volume 24 (1), p. 12. For a long time it only contained the genus. The genus Purdiaea , which previously belonged to the Cyrillaceae family, is a new addition .

The family Clethraceae contains only two genera with around 95 species:

Cinnamon ( Clethra L. ), also called Scheinellern: With around 85 species in America and Southeast Asia.
Purdiaea Planch. (Syn .: Costaea A.Rich. , Schizocardia A.C.Sm. & Standl. ): With about 13 species. They are shrubs or small trees. Eleven species are native to Cuba and one each to Guatemala and Belize .