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Ruscaceae

Ruscaceae M. Roemer. Common name: Ruscus Family.

Key to Ruscaceae

As here circumscribed, a family of about 28 genera and 500 species, of North America, Central America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Following the "breakup of the Liliaceae", Ruscaceae was often defined very narrowly to include a few genera with cladode. In APG I (1998), it was recognized more broadly as Convallariaceae. In APG II (2003), Ruscaceae was listed as an "acceptable, monophyletic alternative to the broader circumscription favoured here". In APG III (2009) and APG IV (2016), Ruscaceae was simply merged into a very broad Asparagaceae. We favor and here use a 'middle ground' that recognizes at family rank major clade (in our region: Asparagaceae s.s., Ruscaceae, Agavaceae, Themidaceae, and Hyacinthaceae) in Asparagaceae sensu APG III and APG IV.

Glossary (beta!)

References: Bogler (1998) In Kubitzki (1998a); Bogler & Simpson (1995); Conran & Tamura (1998) In Kubitzki (1998a); Yamashita & Tamura (2000); Yeo (1998) In Kubitzki (1998a). Show full citations.

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Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend. Data for arrows not developed for genera and families which may have species only occurring outside the flora area.

image of plant© Bruce A. Sorrie | Polygonatum | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Alan Weakley | Liriope source | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Alan Weakley | Nolina source
image of plant© J.W. Hardin | Danae
image of plant© Caleb Catto, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Caleb Catto | Aspidistra elatior source | Original Image ⭷
image of plant© Sam Kieschnick, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Sam Kieschnick | Dasylirion texanum source | Original Image ⭷

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