Calycanthaceae

Calycanthaceae
Calycanthus floridus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Magnoliids
Order:	Laurales
Family:	Calycanthaceae Lindl.[1]
Genera
Calycanthus Chimonanthus Idiospermum Sinocalycanthus (Chinese Sweetshrub)

The Calycanthaceae (sweetshrubs or spicebushes) are a small family of flowering plants in the order Laurales. The family contains three genera and only 10 species, restricted to warm temperate and tropical regions:

• Calycanthus (two species; western and southeastern North America)
• Chimonanthus (six species; eastern Asia)
• Idiospermum (one species; Queensland, Australia)
• Sinocalycanthus (one species; eastern Asia) - morphological and molecular data indicate this is a member of Calycanthus.

They are aromatic, deciduous shrubs growing to 2–4 m tall, except for Idiospermum, which is a large evergreen tree. The flowers are white to red, with spirally arranged tepals. DNA-based phylogenies indicate the Northern Hemisphere Calycanthus and Chimonanthus diverged from each other in the mid-Miocene, while the Australian Idiospermum had already diverged by the Upper Cretaceous and likely represents a remnant of a former Gondwanan distribution of Calycanthaceae that included South America, as indicated by the occurrence of Cretaceous Calycanthaceae fossils in Brazil.

References

1. Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009), "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 161 (2): 105–121, doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x, retrieved 2010-12-10

• Calycanthaceae in L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants.
• Flora of North America: Calycanthaceae
• Flora of China Draft text of Calycanthaceae
• "Molecular phylogeny and intra- and intercontinental biogeography of Calycanthaceae"