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Clethra family
Clethraceae Klotzsch
リョウブ科
A family of woody plants distributed in Asia, the Americas, and Macaronesia, comprising about 75 species in a single genus (Clethra). In Japan, Clethra barbinervis is widespread in montane deciduous forests, bearing pendant white racemes in early summer. Young leaves have historically been eaten as a mountain vegetable.
Key Characteristics
- ●Deciduous or evergreen trees to shrubs
- ●Leaves are simple, alternate, with serrate margins
- ●Flowers are white, pentamerous, and fragrant
- ●Ten stamens with anthers opening by apical pores (poricidal dehiscence)
- ●Fruit is a capsule
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Serrate / Dentate / Entire
Growth form
Shrub / Tree
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen / Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Stipules
Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
Many
Petal fusion
Free
Ovary position
Superior
Stamen count
5
Plant sex
Hermaphrodite
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core Eudicots > Ericales > Clethraceae
Divergence Era
Paleogene (ca. 55 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Disjunct distribution across Asia, the Americas, and Macaronesia (reflecting Tethys Sea and Atlantic Ocean opening)
- ・Establishment of a distinctive pollen release mechanism through poricidal anther dehiscence
Plants in Clethra family on this site
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