Magnoliaceae

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The Magnoliaceae is a family in the flowering plant Order Magnoliales. It consists of two subfamilies:

Magnolioideae, of which Magnolia is the most well-known genus.
Liriodendroidae, a monogeneric subfamily, containing Liriodendron (Tulip trees).

Unlike most angiosperms, whose flower parts are in rings, the Magnoliaceae have their stamens and pistils in spirals on a conical receptacle. This arrangement is found in old fossil plants and is believed to be primitive for angiosperms. Their flowers are also not so clearly differentiated into having sepals and petals like most other flowering plants; the "dual-purpose" parts that occupy both positions are known as tepals.

The family has approximately 225 species in 7 genera, although some classification systems include all of subfamily Magnoioideae in genus Magnolia. The family ranges across eastern North America, Mexico and Central America, the West Indies, tropical South America, southern and eastern India, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malesia, China, Korea, and Japan.

References

Hunt, D. (ed). 1998. Magnolias and their allies. International Dendrology Society & Magnolia Society. ISBN 0-9517234-8-0
Azuma, H., García-Franco, J. G., Rico-Gray, V., and Thien, L. B. (2001). Molecular phylogeny of the Magnoliaceae: the biogeography of tropical and temperate disjunctions. American Journal of Botany. 88: 2275-2285.

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