Sladeniaceae

Sladeniaceae
	Sladenia celastrifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Sladeniaceae; Airy Shaw
Genera
	Ficalhoa; Sladenia;

Sladeniaceae is a family of flowering plants containing tree species found in subtropical to tropical environments in East Africa (Ficalhoa), Burma, Yunnan, and Thailand (Sladenia). The family consists of trees with alternate, simple leaves without stipules, and flowers arranged in cymose inflorescences.

The circumscription of the family is variable, with some systems describing the family as consisting solely of the genus Sladenia, which has been variously considered a member of the Theaceae, the Actinidiaceae, the Dilleniaceae, or the Ternstroemiaceae. Other systems include the genus Ficalhoa and possibly the genus Pentaphylax in a family with Sladenia. Morphological studies of the Sladenia embryo suggest it has unique characteristics that merit placing the genus in its own family.^[1] However, the plant family is poorly studied and initial phylogenetic studies have raised contradictory indications about its taxonomic placement.^[2]^[3]

References

^ Li, L; Han-Xing Liang; Hua Peng; Li-Gong Lei (2003). "Sporogenesis and gametogenesis in Sladenia and their systematic implication". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 143 (3). Linnean Society of London: 305–314. doi:10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.00237.x.
^ Anderberg, A. A.; Rydin, C.; Kallersjo, M. (2002). "Phylogenetic relationships in the order ericales s.l.: Analyses of molecular data from five genes from the plastid and mitochondrial genomes". American Journal of Botany. 89 (4). Botanical Society of America: 677–687. doi:10.3732/ajb.89.4.677. PMID 21665668.
^ Anderberg, AA; KJ Sytsma; J Schönenberger (2005). "Molecular phylogenetics and patterns of floral evolution in the Ericales". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 166 (2). University of Chicago Press Journals: 265–288. doi:10.1086/427198. S2CID 35461118.