Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Asclepiadaceae
See under Apocynaceae
The Asclepiadaceae is a former plant family, now in included in the dogbane family Apocynaceae.
They are a group of perennial herbs, twining shrubs, lianas, or rarely trees belonging to the order Gentianales. The name comes from the genus Asclepias.
There are 348 genera, with about 2900 species. They are mainly located in the tropics to subtropics, especially in South America.
The florally advanced tribe Stapeliae within this family contain the relatively familiar stem succulent genera such as Huernia, Stapelia and Hoodia. They are remarkable for the complex mechanisms they have developed for pollination, which independently parallel the unrelated Orchidaceae, especially in the grouping of their pollen into pollinia.
Reference
- Endress & Bruyn : A revised classification of the Apocynaceae. Botanical Review 66: 1-56.
External links
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