Image: Wikimedia Commons (See link for license)
Chloranthus family
Chloranthaceae
センリョウ科
A small family whose phylogenetic position among angiosperms was long uncertain. Under APG III, it forms the sole family in Chloranthales. Sarcandra glabra is native to Japan and widely used as a New Year's ornamental for its beautiful red berries. Flowers are extremely simple, lacking petals and sepals.
Key Characteristics
- ●Flowers extremely simple, lacking petals and sepals
- ●1–3 stamens and 1 pistil
- ●Opposite leaves with serrate margins
- ●Fruit drupe-like, ripening red (Sarcandra)
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Opposite
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Growth form
Shrub / Tree / Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Stipules
Present
Aromatic
Aromatic
Petal count
3 petals
Ovary position
Superior / Half-inferior
Plant sex
Dioecious / Hermaphrodite
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Basal angiosperms > Chloranthales > Chloranthaceae
Divergence Era
Early Cretaceous (ca. 130 Ma onwards)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・A lineage in which floral simplification (loss of petals and sepals) occurred during early angiosperm evolution
- ・Numerous Cretaceous fossil pollen grains known, providing evidence for early angiosperm dispersal
Plants in Chloranthus family on this site
AI-generated, needs verification