Acanthaceae

Acanthaceae
Acanthus mollis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Acanthaceae
Juss.[1][2]
Type genus
Acanthus
Subfamilies[1]
Synonyms
  • Avicenniaceae Miq., nom. cons.
  • Justiciaceae Raf.
  • Mendonciaceae Bremek.
  • Meyeniaceae Sreem.
  • Nelsoniaceae Sreem.
  • Thunbergiaceae Lilja[1]

Acanthaceae (/ækænˈθeɪsiːˌaɪ, -siˌi/) is a family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are tropical herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributed in temperate regions. The four main centres of distribution are Indonesia and Malaysia, Africa, Brazil, and Central America. Representatives of the family can be found in nearly every habitat, including dense or open forests, scrublands, wet fields and valleys, sea coast and marine areas, swamps, and mangrove forests.

  1. ^ a b c "Family: Acanthaceae Juss., nom. cons". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2003-01-17. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
  2. ^ Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009). "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (2): 105–121. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x. hdl:10654/18083.