Lecythidaceae

 The Lecythidaceae /ˌlɛsɪθɪˈdeɪʃiː/ comprise a family of about 20 genera and 250–300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa (including Madagascar), Asia and Australia.

Lecythidaceae
Barringtonia asiatica (flower).jpg
Flower of Barringtonia asiatica (futu) on Tongatapu
Scientific classificatione
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Tracheophytes
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Clade:Asterids
Order:Ericales
Family:Lecythidaceae
A.Rich.[1]
Genera

See text

Barringtonia acutangula(Freshwater Mangrove) fruits inKolkata, West Bengal, India.
Careya arborea in Narsapur, Medak district, India.

The most important member of the family in world trade is the Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa), valued for its edible nuts; the paradise nut (Lecythis species) is also eaten.

TaxonomyEdit

According to the most recent molecular analysis of Lecythidaceae by Mori et al.(2007),[2] the three subfamilies are:

  • Foetidioideae (Foetidiaceae) from Madagascar include only Foetidia.
  • Planchonioideae (including Barringtonia) are restricted to the Old World tropics.
  • Lecythidoideae (Lecythidaceae) are restricted to the New World tropics.

Two other families are sometimes included in Lecythidaceae; the Scytopetalaceae and Napoleonaeaceae are hypothesized as most closely related to Lecythidaceae.

The APG II system of 2003 includes genera from the family Scytopetalaceae in the Lecythidaceae, including Rhaptopetalum and Brazzeia.


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 Metasyntactic variable, which is released under the 
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