The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family of flowering plants,
consisting of trees, shrubs, and lianas, primarily of the tropics.
The family was traditionally circumscribed quite broadly, with around 55 genera totalling over 400 species. In 2001, though, this circumscription was found to be polyphyletic, and the family was split into four families in three different orders: Icacinaceae sensu stricto (then unplaced at order rank), Pennantiaceae (Apiales), Stemonuraceae (Aquifoliales) and Cardiopteridaceae (also Aquifoliales). Other genera have later been moved to Metteniusaceae (Metteniusales), so that Icacinaceae now include c. 23 genera and 160 species. One genus, Sleumeria, was described as late as 2005.
Icacinaceae belongs to the order Icacinales along with Oncothecaceae. The oldest member of this family is Palaeophytocrene chicoensis from the Campanian of California, known from a fossil fruit from the Chico Formation.
Icacina senegalensis extracts have shown activity against malaria parasites.
Genera
List according to Stull et al. (2015):
Icacineae
Alsodeiopsis Oliver
Casimirella Hassler
Icacina A. Jussieu
Lavigeria Pierre
Leretia Vellozo
Merrilliodendron Kanehira
Pleurisanthes Baillon
Iodeae
Iodes Blume
†Iodicarpa Manchester
Mappianthus Handel-Mazzetti
Mappieae
Mappia Jacquin
Nothapodytes Blume – synonym of Mappia
Phytocreneae
Desmostachys Miers
Hosiea Hemsley & E. H. Wilson
Miquelia Meisner
Natsiatopsis Kurz
Natsiatum Arnott
†Palaeophytocrene Reid & Chandler
Phytocrene Wallich
Pyrenacantha Wight
Ryticaryum Becc.
Sarcostigma Wight & Arnott
Sleumeria Utteridge et al.
Stachyanthus Engler
Vadensea Jongkind & O. Lachenaud
Incertae sedis
Cassinopsis Sonder
†Goweria Wolfe
History
In 1841, George Bentham described Apodytes and Pogopetalum as new genera and united them with Icacina, Gomphandra, and Leretia to create the tribe Icacineae of what would later be called the family Olacaceae....
