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Icacina family
Icacinaceae Miers
クロタキカズラ科
A family of woody plants distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. Under APG IV, it is treated as 'incertae sedis' with uncertain phylogenetic placement. In Japan, Icacinaceae species are native to lowland forests of Okinawa and the Nansei Islands.
Key Characteristics
- ●Trees, shrubs, or woody lianas
- ●Leaves are simple, alternate, and entire
- ●Flowers are small, pentamerous, with free or fused petals
- ●Fruit is a drupe
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate / Opposite
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate / Palmate
Leaf margin
Serrate / Dentate / Entire / Crenate
Growth form
Shrub / Tree / Vine
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Dissected / Undivided
Stipules
Absent
Latex
Present / Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic / Zygomorphic
Petal count
3 petals / 6 petals
Petal fusion
Free / Fused
Ovary position
Superior
Stamen count
3-4
Plant sex
Dioecious / Hermaphrodite / Monoecious
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Asterids > Incertae sedis (Icacinaceae)
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene (ca. 70 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Adaptation to woody liana habit within tropical rainforests
- ・Taxonomic instability (molecular phylogenetics suggests multiple instances of convergent evolution)
Plants in Icacina family on this site
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