Aralidium Explained

Aralidium is a genus in the plant family Torricelliaceae. It includes the single species Aralidium pinnatifidum, a small tree or shrub distributed in southeastern Asia, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Taxonomic placement of this genus has proven difficult because it possesses characters in common with both the Araliaceae and Cornaceae. In the Cronquist system, it was placed in Cornaceae, but the APG II system give it its own family, Aralidiaceae, with the proviso that "[s]ome of the families are monogeneric and could possibly be merged when well-supported sister-group relationships have been established."[1] Such a relationship was established between Aralidium, Melanophylla and Torricellia in 2004, resulting in the transfer of the first two of these genera into Torricelliaceae.[2] [3]

External links

Notes and References

  1. 10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.t01-1-00158.x . Angiosperm Phylogeny Group . 2003 . An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG II . Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society . 141 . 4 . 399–436.
  2. Plunkett, G. M. . 2004 . Recent advances in understanding Apiales and a revised classification . South African Journal of Botany . 70 . 3 . 371–381. 10.1016/S0254-6299(15)30220-9 . etal. free .
  3. Web site: Apiales . . 2009-02-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20090131030750/http://mobot.org/mobot/research/APweb/orders/apialesweb.htm. 31 January 2009 . live.