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Peridiscaceae

Peridiscaceae · Kew POWO · Kew Plants of the World Online

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Peridiscaceae

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Peridiscaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. Four genera comprise this family: Medusandra, Soyauxia, Peridiscus, and Whittonia., with a total of 12 known species. It has a disjunct distribution, with Peridiscus occurring in Venezuela and northern Brazil, Whittonia in Guyana, Medusandra in Cameroon, and Soyauxia in tropical West Africa. Whittonia is possibly extinct, being known from only one specimen collected below Kaieteur Falls in Guyana. In 2006, archeologists attempted to rediscover it, however, it proved unsuccessful.

Species

FAMILY

  1. KingdomPlantae
  2. PhylumTracheophyta
  3. ClassMagnoliopsida
  4. OrderSaxifragales
  5. FamilyPeridiscaceae
Observations recorded2,138

via GBIF · Kew POWO

Museum specimens

Specimen records
1
Family
Peridiscaceae
Collections
IGL-UNAM
Recorded in
Mexico

Wikidata facts

Instance of
taxon
Parent taxon
Euphorbiales
Image
Peridiscus lucidus (Hooker).png
Show 9 more facts
taxon rank
family
taxon name
Peridiscaceae
Commons category
Peridiscaceae
topic's main category
Category:Peridiscaceae
taxon common name
围盘树科
taxon synonym
Medusandraceae
has fruit type
drupe
taxonomic type
Peridiscus
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

5 sections
Contents
  • Description
  • History
  • Phylogeny
  • References
  • Bibliography

Peridiscaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Saxifragales. Four genera comprise this family: Medusandra, Soyauxia, Peridiscus, and Whittonia., with a total of 12 known species. It has a disjunct distribution, with Peridiscus occurring in Venezuela and northern Brazil, Whittonia in Guyana, Medusandra in Cameroon, and Soyauxia in tropical West Africa. Whittonia is possibly extinct, being known from only one specimen collected below Kaieteur Falls in Guyana. In 2006, archeologists attempted to rediscover it, however, it proved unsuccessful.

The largest genus is Soyauxia, with about seven species. Medusandra has two species. Peridiscus and Whittonia each contain one species. The Peridiscaceae are small trees or erect shrubs of wet tropical forests.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Peridiscaceae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.