Editing Actinidiaceae

{{Short description|Family of flowering plants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|image = Kiwi-Flower, male.jpg
|image_caption = [[Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa|''Actinidia chinensis'' var. ''deliciosa'']]
|taxon = Actinidiaceae
|authority = [[Ernest Friedrich Gilg|Gilg]] & [[Erich Werdermann|Werderm.]]<ref name=APGIII2009>{{Cite journal |last=Angiosperm Phylogeny Group |year=2009 |title=An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=161 |issue=2 |pages=105–121 |url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1095-8339.2003.t01-1-00158.x/pdf | format= PDF |access-date=2013-07-06 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x |doi-access=free |hdl=10654/18083 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
|type_genus = ''[[Actinidia]]''
|type_genus_authority = [[John Lindley|Lindl.]]
|subdivision_ranks = Genera
|subdivision =
{{unbulleted list
|''[[Actinidia]]''
|''[[Clematoclethra]]''
|''[[Saurauia]]''
}}
}}

The '''Actinidiaceae''' are a small [[family (biology)|family]] of [[flowering plant]]s. The family has three [[genus|genera]] and about 360 [[species]] and is a member of the order [[Ericales]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Arne A. |last1=Anderberg |first2=Catarina |last2=Rydin |first3=Mari |last3=Källersjö |title=Phylogenetic relationships in the order Ericales s.l.: analyses of molecular data from five genes from the plastid and mitochondrial genomes |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=89 |issue=4 |pages=677–687 |doi=10.3732/ajb.89.4.677 |pmid=21665668 |year=2002 |url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-170431 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Distribution==
They are temperate and subtropical [[woody plant|woody]] [[vine]]s, shrubs, and trees, native to Asia (''[[Actinidia]]'' or [[kiwifruit]], ''[[Clematoclethra]]'', and ''[[Saurauia]]'') and Central America and South America (''[[Saurauia]]'' only). ''Saurauia'', with its 300 species, is the largest genus in this family.  Although now confined to Asia and tropical Central and South America,  evidence indicates in the past the family had a wider distribution.  The now extinct genus ''Parasaurauia'' is thought to have belonged to the Actinidiaceae and lived in North America during the early [[Campanian]].<ref name=Keller96>{{cite journal |first1=Jennifer A. |last1=Keller |first2=Patrick S. |last2=Herendeen |first3=Peter R. |last3=Crane |title=Fossil flowers and fruits of the Actinidiaceae from the Campanian (Late Cretaceous) of Georgia |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=528–541 |doi=10.1002/j.1537-2197.1996.tb12733.x |year=1996 }}</ref>

==Characteristics==
The plants are usually small trees or shrubs, or sometimes vines (''Actinidia''). The alternate, simple, spiral [[Leaf|leaves]] have  serrated or entire margins. They lack [[stipule]]s or are minutely stipulated. They are often beset with rather flattened bristles.

The [[flower]]s grow solitary or are aggregated in terminal [[Cyme (botany)|cymes]], with free [[sepal]]s and [[petal]]s. Except for members of the genus ''Clematoclethra'' which have 10 stamens, the [[stamen]]s are numerous and originally attached at the back.<ref name=Keller96/> They invert just before the flower starts expanding, so their bases become [[apical dominance|apical]].

The plants may be [[dioecious]], [[monoecious]], or [[hermaphrodite|hermaphroditic]]. The fruit is usually a [[berry (botany)|berry]], such as the edible kiwifruit, a cultivar from the genus ''Actinidia''.

==Evidence supporting placement within the Ericales==
Before genetic evidence appeared in the last 10 years, the placement of the Actinidiaceae within the Ericales was highly controversial.  The [[USDA]] Plants Database, a resource considered authoritative, still places the Actinidaceae within the [[Theales]], an order which has been shown not to be [[monophyletic]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group |title=An Ordinal Classification for the Families of Flowering Plants |journal=Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=531–553 |year=531–553 |doi=10.2307/2992015 |jstor=2992015|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/2234 }}</ref>  Placement of the Actinidiaceae within the Ericales has been strongly supported recently by genetic evidence, and contrary to previous thought, it is not a [[basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] member of the Ericales.  Multiple studies using genetic evidence now firmly place the Actinidiaceae in the Ericoid [[clade]], a monophyletic group consisting of the [[Ericaceae]], the [[Cyrillaceae]], the [[Clethraceae]], the [[Sarraceniaceae]], and the [[Roridulaceae]].  Further genetic evidence points to the Actinidiaceae being sister to the Roridulaceae, with the Roridulaceae and Sarraceniaceae, forming another, smaller, monophyletic group.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Jürg |last1=Schönenberger |first2=Arne A. |last2=Anderberg |first3=Kenneth J. |last3=Sytsma |date=March 2005 |title=Molecular Phylogenetics and Patterns of Floral Evolution in the Ericales |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |volume=166 |issue=2 |pages=265–288 |doi=10.1086/427198 |s2cid=35461118 }}</ref>

==Evidence supporting monophyly of the Actinidiaceae==
What genera were to be placed in the Actinidiaceae before recent genetic and micromorphological studies emerged was highly controversial.  Before recent evidence, the genus [[Sladeniaceae|''Sladenia'']] was often placed within the Actinidiaceae.  Also, ''Saurauia'' was sometimes considered its own family.  Thus, before more detailed studies started, two to four genera could be placed within the Actinidiaceae.  Micromorphological characters have confirmed that ''Sladenia'' does not belong in the Actinidiaceae.  Furthermore, biological characteristics of the [[cell (biology)|cell]]s, and molecular evidence have confirmed  the three genera currently [[circumscribed]] in the Actinidiaceae, ''Clematoclethra'', ''Saurauia'', and ''Actinidia'', do indeed form a monophyletic group.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Jianqiang |last1=Li |first2=Hongwen |last2=Huang |first3=Tao |last3=Sang |title=Molecular Phylogeny and Infrageneric Classification of Actinidia (Actinidiaceae) |journal=Systematic Botany |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=408–415 |year=2002 |jstor=3093880 |doi=10.1043/0363-6445-27.2.408 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Zi-Can |last1=He |first2=Jian-Qiang |last2=Li |first3=Qing |last3=Cai |first4=Qing |last4=Wang |title=The cytology of ''Actinidia'', ''Saurauia'', and ''Clematoclethra''(Actinidiaceae) |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=147 |issue= 3|pages=369–374 |year=2005 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2005.00372.x |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.botanical-dermatology-database.info/BotDermFolder/ACTI.html Actinidiaceae] in [https://www.botanical-dermatology-database.info/ BoDD &ndash; Botanical Dermatology Database]

{{Angiosperm families}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q156666}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Actinidiaceae| ]]
[[Category:Ericales families]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Ernest Friedrich Gilg]]