Acanthaceae | |
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Flowers of Odontonema cuspidatum | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: |
Acanthaceae Juss. |
Type genus | |
Acanthus L. |
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Subfamilies | |
Synonyms | |
Avicenniaceae Miq., nom. cons. Justiciaceae Raf. |
Acanthoideae
Avicennioideae
Nelsonioideae
Thunbergioideae
Avicenniaceae Miq., nom. cons. Justiciaceae Raf.
Mendonciaceae Bremek.
Meyeniaceae Sreem.
Nelsoniaceae Sreem.
Thunbergiaceae Lilja
Acanthaceae is a family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are tropical herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributed in temperate regions. The four main centres of distribution are Indonesia and Malaysia, Africa, Brazil, and Central America. The representatives of the family can be found in nearly every habitat, including dense or open forests, scrublands, wet fields and valleys, sea coast and marine areas, swamps, and mangrove forests.
Plants in this family have simple, opposite, decussated leaves with entire (or sometimes toothed, lobed, or spiny) margins, and without stipules. The leaves may contain cystoliths, calcium carbonate concretions, seen as streaks on the surface.