14-472: Cecropiaceae C.C.Berg The Urticaceae / ɜːr t ɪ ˈ k eɪ s iː / are a family , the nettle family , of flowering plants . The family name comes from the genus Urtica . The Urticaceae include a number of well-known and useful plants, including nettles in the genus Urtica , ramie ( Boehmeria nivea ), māmaki ( Pipturus albidus ), and ajlai ( Debregeasia saeneb ). The family includes about 2,625 species, grouped into 53 genera according to
28-554: A lack of widespread consensus within the scientific community for extended periods. The continual publication of new data and diverse opinions plays a crucial role in facilitating adjustments and ultimately reaching a consensus over time. The naming of families is codified by various international bodies using the following suffixes: The taxonomic term familia was first used by French botanist Pierre Magnol in his Prodromus historiae generalis plantarum, in quo familiae plantarum per tabulas disponuntur (1689) where he called
42-499: Is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". The delineation of what constitutes a family— or whether a described family should be acknowledged— is established and decided upon by active taxonomists . There are not strict regulations for outlining or acknowledging a family, yet in the realm of plants, these classifications often rely on both the vegetative and reproductive characteristics of plant species. Taxonomists frequently hold varying perspectives on these descriptions, leading to
56-485: Is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy . It is classified between order and genus . A family may be divided into subfamilies , which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae , but that family
70-481: The Genera Plantarum of George Bentham and Joseph Dalton Hooker this word ordo was used for what now is given the rank of family. Families serve as valuable units for evolutionary, paleontological, and genetic studies due to their relatively greater stability compared to lower taxonomic levels like genera and species. Touchardia Touchardia is a genus of flowering plants in
84-586: The Late Cretaceous of Central Europe . Most were assigned to the extant genera Boehmeria (three species), Debregeasia (one species) and Pouzolzia (three species), while three species were assigned to the extinct genus Urticoidea . A Colombian fossil flora of the Maastrichtian stage has yielded leaves that resemble leaves of the tribe Ceropieae. In the Cenozoic fossil leaves from
98-659: The Ypresian Allenby Formation preserve distinct trichomes , and have been attributed to the Tribe Urticeae in the fossil record. The leaves had originally been identified as Rubus by earlier workers on the Eocene Okanagan Highlands , but Devore et al (2020) interpreted the preserved hairs along the stem and major veins as stinging trichomes, rather than simple hairs or thorns. Modern molecular phylogenetics suggest
112-425: The stamens are mature and their filaments straighten explosively, a peculiar and conspicuously specialised mechanism. While the stings delivered by Urticaceae species are often unpleasant, they seldom pose any direct threat to health, and deaths directly attributed to stinging are exceedingly rare; species known to cause human fatalities include Dendrocnide cordata and Urtica ferox . The APG II system puts
126-515: The Urticaceae in the order Rosales, while older systems consider them part of the Urticales , along with Ulmaceae , Moraceae , and Cannabaceae . APG still considers "old" Urticales a monophyletic group, but does not recognise it as an order on its own. The fossil record of Urticaceae is scattered and mostly based on dispersed fruits. Twelve species based on fossil achenes are known from
140-813: The database of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Christenhusz and Byng (2016). The largest genera are Pilea (500 to 715 species), Elatostema (300 species), Urtica (80 species), and Cecropia (75 species). Cecropia contains many myrmecophytes . Urticaceae species can be found worldwide, apart from the polar regions. Urticaceae species can be shrubs (e.g. Pilea ), lianas, herbs (e.g. Urtica , Parietaria ), or, rarely, trees ( Dendrocnide , Cecropia ). Their leaves are usually entire and bear stipules . Urticating (stinging) hairs are often present. They have usually unisexual flowers and can be both monoecious or dioecious . They are wind-pollinated . Most disperse their pollen when
154-540: The family as a rank intermediate between order and genus was introduced by Pierre André Latreille in his Précis des caractères génériques des insectes, disposés dans un ordre naturel (1796). He used families (some of them were not named) in some but not in all his orders of "insects" (which then included all arthropods ). In nineteenth-century works such as the Prodromus of Augustin Pyramus de Candolle and
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#1732779721966168-986: The following relationships (see also ): Moraceae ( outgroup ) Laportea Obetia Urera pro parte Touchardia Urera pro parte Poikilospermum Girardinia Dendrocnide Discocnide Nanocnide Urtica (including Hesperocnide ) Procris Pellionia Elatostema Myriocarpa + Gyrotaenia Lecanthus Pilea (including Sarcopilea ) Coussapoa Myrianthus Cecropia Leucosyke Maoutia Oreocnide Phenax Chamabainia Gonostegia Pouzolzia pro parte Neodistemon Rousselia Hemistylus Pouzolzia pro parte Neraudia Pipturus (including Nothocnide ) Boehmeria pro parte Debregeasia Astrothalamus Archiboehmeria Boehmeria pro parte Sarcochlamys Family (biology) Family ( Latin : familia , pl. : familiae )
182-575: The seventy-six groups of plants he recognised in his tables families ( familiae ). The concept of rank at that time was not yet settled, and in the preface to the Prodromus Magnol spoke of uniting his families into larger genera , which is far from how the term is used today. In his work Philosophia Botanica published in 1751, Carl Linnaeus employed the term familia to categorize significant plant groups such as trees , herbs , ferns , palms , and so on. Notably, he restricted
196-549: The use of this term solely within the book's morphological section, where he delved into discussions regarding the vegetative and generative aspects of plants. Subsequently, in French botanical publications, from Michel Adanson 's Familles naturelles des plantes (1763) and until the end of the 19th century, the word famille was used as a French equivalent of the Latin ordo (or ordo naturalis ). In zoology ,
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