File:Gnetum_luofuense_125787614.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Gnetum
Sign in to saveGnetum is a genus of gymnosperms, the sole genus in the family Gnetaceae within the Gnetophyta. They are tropical evergreen trees, shrubs and lianas. Unlike other gymnosperms, they possess vessel elements in the xylem. Some species have been proposed to have been the first plants to be insect-pollinated as their fossils occur in association with extinct pollinating scorpionflies. Molecular phylogenies based on nuclear and plastid sequences from most of the species indicate hybridization among some of the Southeast Asian species. Fossil-calibrated molecular-clocks suggest that the Gnetum lineag
Species
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassGnetopsida
- OrderGnetales
- FamilyGnetaceae
Common Name: kunuka
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Research
234 papers- The genus Gnetum: Traditional use, phytochemistry, nutritional value, biosynthesis, synthesis, pharmacology, toxicology, synthetic advance, and pharmacokinetics.Fitoterapia · 2025
- Effect of Resveratrol in Melinjo Seed (Gnetum gnemon L.) Extract on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients and its Possible Mechanism: A Review.Current diabetes reviews · 2023
- Structurally diverse stilbenes from Gnetum parvifolium and their anti-neuroinflammatory activities.Bioorganic chemistry · 2024
- Gnetum chinense, a new species of Gnetaceae from southwestern China.PhytoKeys · 2020
- Gnetum africanum: a wild food plant from the African forest with many nutritional and medicinal properties.Journal of medicinal food · 2011
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Gnetum gnemon BotGardBln1105C.JPG
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Gnetum
- taxon name
- Gnetum
- taxon common name
- 买麻藤属
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~6 min read
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Species
- Uses
- Conservation
- Gallery
- References
- External links
Gnetum is a genus of gymnosperms, the sole genus in the family Gnetaceae within the Gnetophyta. They are tropical evergreen trees, shrubs and lianas. Unlike other gymnosperms, they possess vessel elements in the xylem. Some species have been proposed to have been the first plants to be insect-pollinated as their fossils occur in association with extinct pollinating scorpionflies. Molecular phylogenies based on nuclear and plastid sequences from most of the species indicate hybridization among some of the Southeast Asian species. Fossil-calibrated molecular-clocks suggest that the Gnetum lineages now found in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia are the result of ancient long-distance dispersal across seawater.
Their leaves are rich in phytochemicals such as flavonoids and stilbenes. Of the species studied so far, Gnetum have photosynthetic and transpiration capacities which are considerably lower than those of other seed plants, due to the absence of multiple chloroplast genes essential for photosynthesis, a trait they seem to share with the other living members of Gnetophyta, Ephedra and Welwitschia, as well as conifers. There are over 50 different species of Gnetum.