Editing Acanthaceae (section)

== Overview of systematics ==
Since the first comprehensive classification of Acanthaceae in 1847 by [[Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck|Nees]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nees|first=C. G.|date=1847|editor-last=de Candolle|editor-first=A. P.|title=Acanthaceae|journal=Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis|volume=11|pages=46–519}}</ref> there have been a few major revisions presented since for the whole family.

[[Gustav Lindau|Lindau]], in 1895, divided the family into the subfamilies Mendoncioideae, [[Thunbergioideae]], [[Nelsonioideae]], and [[Acanthoideae]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lindau|first=G.|date=1895|editor-last=Engler|editor-first=A.|editor2-last=Prantl|editor2-first=K.|title=Acanthaceae|journal=Die Natuirlichen Pflanzenfamilien|volume=4 |issue=3b |pages=274–353}}</ref> Critically, Mendoncioideae, Thunbergioideae, and Nelsonioideae do not possess retinaculate fruits—and it is this distinction, between classifying Acanthaceae into a family that includes those clades with non-retinaculate fruits and one that excludes them, that still persists to the modern day.

[[Cornelis Eliza Bertus Bremekamp|Bremekamp]], in 1965, presented a classification of Acanthaceae that differed from that of Lindau, for his Acanthaceae excluded genera that lack retinaculate fruits.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bremekamp|first=C. E. B.|date=1965|title=Delimitation and subdivision of the Acanthaceae|journal=Bull. Bot. Surv. India|volume=7|pages=21–30}}</ref> He placed Nelsonioideae within [[Scrophulariaceae]], classified Thunbergiaceae and Mendonciaceae as distinct families and divided his Acanthaceae into two groups (Acanthoideae and Ruelloideae) based on the presence or absence of [[cystolith]]s, articulate [[Plant stem|stems]], monothecate [[Stamen|anthers]], and colpate [[pollen]].

In Scotland and Vollesen's 2000 study,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Scotland|first1=R. W.|last2=Vollesen|first2=K.|date=2000|title=Classification of Acanthaceae|journal=Kew Bulletin|volume=55|issue=3|pages=513–589|doi=10.2307/4118776|jstor=4118776|bibcode=2000KewBu..55..513S }}</ref> they accepted 221 [[Genus|genera]] and detailed five major groups within Acanthaceae s.s. (that is, those possessing retinaculate fruits), which is equivalent to Acanthoideae Link sensu Lindau 1895. Out of those 221 genera, they placed 201 of them into seven infrafamilial taxa of Acanthaceae, leaving only 20 unplaced.

In the current understanding of Acanthaceae, Acanthaceae [[Sensu|s.s.]] includes only those [[clade]]s with retinaculate fruits (that is, [[species:Acantheae|Acantheae]], [[species:Barlerieae|Barlerieae]], [[species:Andrographideae|Andrographideae]], Whitfieldeae, [[species:Ruellieae|Ruellieae]], and Justiceae), while Acanthaceae [[Sensu|s.l.]] includes those clades as well as Thunbergioideae, Nelsonioideae, and ''[[Avicennia]].''<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tripp|first1=E. A.|last2=Daniel|first2=T. F.|last3=Fatimah|first3=S.|last4=McDade|first4=L. A.|date=2013|title=Phylogenetic Relationships within Ruellieae (Acanthaceae) and a Revised Classification|journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences|volume=174 | issue = 1 |pages=97–137|doi=10.1086/668248|s2cid=84423889}}</ref>