Cunoniaceae R.Br.

First published in Voy. Terra Austral. 2: 548. 1814 [19 Jul 1814] ; conserved here, but also found in the preprint Gen. Rem.: 16 (before 11 July 1814) (1814)nom. cons.
This family is accepted

Descriptions

Timothy M. A. Utteridge and Laura V. S. Jennings (2022). Trees of New Guinea. Kew Publishing. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Distribution
A family of 27 genera and about 335 species, found mainly in temperate to tropical regions of the Southern Hemisphere, in South and Central America, the Caribbean, southern Africa, Indian Ocean islands, Malesia, Australia and the western Pacific. The centre of diversity is in eastern Australia and New Caledonia.
Recognition
In New Guinea, Cunoniaceae are trees and shrubs with opposite or rarely whorled, simple or compound leaves, usually with toothed margins, and conspicuous free or interpetiolar stipules, racemose or paniculate inflorescences (strictly speaking the latter are thyrses) with numerous small flowers, a superior (or rarely semi-inferior) ovary which may be syncarpous or apocarpous, and a persistent style for each carpel or locule.
Morphology General Habit
Trees and shrubs (or rarely hemi-epiphytes but not in New Guinea), usually evergreen, branchlets usually angular/flattened when young
Morphology General Indumentum
Indumentum when present of simple hairs, rarely stellate or peltate, or small raised glands or orbicular trichomes
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules present, free or interpetiolar (or rarely intrapetiolar), commonly ovate to orbicular, foliaceous, often caducous, scars often curved
Morphology Leaves
Leaves opposite or in whorls and decussate (or alternate but not in New Guinea), imparipinnate, trifoliolate, palmately compound, unifoliolate or simple, usually coriaceous, margins usually toothed, venation pinnate, domatia sometimes present on undersurface
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences axillary or terminal, rarely plants ramiflorous, usually racemose or paniculate (strictly thyrses in which the ultimate branches are usually cymose), (or rarely flowers solitary but not in New Guinea). Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual or unisexual (and plants hermaphroditic, andromonoecious or dioecious), commonly 4–5-merous (except gynoecium); calyx lobes (3)4–5(–10), usually fused at the base into a hypanthium; petals absent or as many as calyx lobes and alternating with them, entire or 2–3-lobed; stamens usually twice as many as calyx lobes (in New Guinea), filaments thin, anthers dithecal, dorsifixed, dehiscing by slits, connective often slightly extended, filaments often exceeding petals; disk present, annular or segmented; ovary superior to semi-inferior, apocarpus or syncarpous, (1)2–6(–14)-locular, ovules 1–many, placentation axile or pendulous, styles 1 per carpel or locule, often divergent, stigmas punctate to clavate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruit dehiscent or indehiscent, a follicle, capsule, drupe or samara
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 1–many, fusiform to ellipsoid, glabrous or hairy, sometimes winged.
[TONG]

Milliken, W., Klitgard, B. and Baracat, A. (2009 onwards), Neotropikey - Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Morphology General Habit
Trees or shrubs, or rarely hemi-epiphytes
Morphology General Indumentum
Indumentum of simple hairs
Morphology Leaves
Leaves opposite and decussate simple or compound (imparipinnate, trifoliolate or palmately compound); blade margins toothed, crenate or rarely entire; in compound leaves, petiole and/or rachis winged or not; venation semi- craspedodromous (or craspedodromous in Caldcluvia, extra-tropical)
Morphology Leaves Stipules
Stipules interpetiolar (2 per node) or free - lateral (4 per node)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences racemose or paniculate/thyrsoid (or flowers solitary, Eucryphia, extra-tropical)
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers hermaphrodite; perianth of 1 or 2 whorls, polysymmetric; sepals 4-6 (-7), valvate or imbricate in bud; petals absent or 4 (-5 in Caldcluvia), alternating with sepals, free, small, thin (or large and showy, Eucryphia); disc annular, or lobed, or adnate to ovary and inconspicuous; stamens twice as many as sepals or 8; filaments slender, anthers subrotund, longitudinally dehiscent down 2 sutures; gynoecium superior; carpels 2 (-12, Eucryphia), syncarpous at level of ovary; stylodia as many as carpels, free; ovules 8, in 2 rows on axile placentas
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits dehiscent, dry; seeds small, winged or hairy.
Distribution
Worldwide the family comprises some 27 genera and 300-350 species. Two genera occur in the Neotropics (Lamanonia, Weinmannia) and together contain ~90 species in the Americas (i.e. including a few extra-tropical ones): Lamanonia (syn. Belangera): (endemic, 5 spp.) Central, E and S Brazil, Paraguay, N Argentina; forest. Weinmannia: (native, 85+ spp.) Andes (S Mexico to Chile and NW Argentina), Caribbean Islands, Venezuela, Guianas and E Brazil with the greatest concentration of species in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; mostly in forest, especially montane tropical forest and subtropical forest, extending into temperate forest in the south; absent from the lowlands of the Amazon basin. Two further genera occur in temperate South America: Caldcluvia: (endemic, 1 spp.) central Chile (and Argentina?); forest. Eucryphia: (native, 2 spp.) Chile; forest. See above under Distribution.
Diagnostic
Key differences from similar families: Weinmannia resembles Brunellia (Brunelliaceae) and Staphylea (formerly Turpinia p.p., Staphyleaceae) in having opposite, usually toothed leaves (simple or pinnate in Brunellia, imparipinnate in Staphylea) and stipules (interpetiolar in Brunellia, free-lateral in Staphylea), and all three genera occur in montane neotropical forest. Weinmannia can be distinguished as follows: It has a syncarpous ovary (2 carpels) with free stylodia (vs carpels free, 4-6 [-8] in Brunellia; carpels 2-3, partially free or united at level of ovary, stylodia fused distally in Staphylea); Axillary racemes (vs axillary panicles/thyrses in Brunellia; axillary or terminal panicles in Staphylea); stipels absent at base of leaflets in compound leaves (vs stipels present in Brunellia; small glands present in Staphylea); Petals caducous, often falling like a cap (vs absent in Brunellia; present and not caducous in Staphylea); Seeds hairy (vs arillate in Brunellia; without aril or hairs in Staphylea). Lamanonia is unlikely to be confused with Brunelliaceae or Staphyleaceae. Margins of blades usually toothed. Distinguishing characters (always present): Leaves opposite; stipules present. Flowers dish-shaped; perianth polysymmetric, pale (white, pale pink, yellowish). Gynoeciumsuperior; carpels united at level of ovary, surmounted by free stylodia. Fruits capsular; seeds numerous. Notable genera and distinguishing features: Weinmannia - Often a significant component of cloud forests in the Andes where several species can co-occur at one locality or in a single altitudinal zone. Species-level identification often depends on vegetative characters and can be problematic; interspecific hybridization is probably common (Harling 1999). Lamanonia : leaves palmately compound; stipules free-lateral; inflorescence of axillary racemes; calyx lobes (5-) 6 (-7); petals absent; stamens numerous (20-60); seeds winged. Weinmannia : leaves simple, trifoliolate or imparipinnately compound; stipules interpetiolar; inflorescence usually of axillary racemes, sometimes contracted; calyx lobes 4 (-5); petals 4 (-5), caducous, often falling as a cap; stamens 2x number of calyx lobes; seeds hairy. Key to genera of Neotropical Cunoniaceae (including extra-tropical genera): 1. Flowers small (< 1 cm diameter) with or without petals, several to many per inflorescence — 2 1. Flowers large (3-5 cm diameter) with showy petals, solitary — Eucryphia 2. Inflorescence paniculate/thyrsoid; stipules free-lateral (4 per node); venation craspedodromous — Caldcluvia2. Inflorescence of axillary racemes (panicle in one species of Weinmannia from Colombia); stipules various; venation semi-craspedodromous — 3 3. Leaves palmately compound (leaflets usually 3 or 5); stipules free-lateral (4 per node); corolla absent; stamens 8 (> 2x number of calyx lobes) — Lamanonia3. Leaves simple or imparipinnately compound (including 3-foliolate); stipules interpetiolar (2 per node); corolla present but caducous; stamens 2x number of calyx lobes — Weinmannia
Note
Cunoniaceae is a largely southern hemisphere family with its centre of generic diversity in the SW Pacific and E Australia. Few genera and a limited range of morphological characters are seen in the Neotropics. Weinmannia is the only widely distributed genus. Besides the Americas, it is also found in the Indian Ocean [Madagascar, Comores, Mauritius, Reunion], and in Malesia, the W and Central Pacific and New Zealand. All species in the Americas belong to sect. Weinmannia, which also contains 2 species from the Mascarene Islands (Bradford 1998, 2002). The remaining genera in Latin America have strong amphi-Pacific relationships. Lamanonia and Caldcluvia both have their closest relatives in the SW Pacific and E Australia, and the remaining species of Eucryphia occur in E Australia (including Tasmania). Species in several genera, including Weinmannia and Eucryphia, are sources of nectar for honey. Notes on delimitation: Molecular studies have resolved questions of family delimitation, e.g. Eucryphia is now placed within Cunoniaceae (previously often segregated in its own family) (see Bradford & Barnes 2001). Although historically Cunoniaceae was considered close to Saxifragaceae, it belongs to Oxalidales (APG II), where among neotropical families it is close to Brunelliaceae, Connaraceae, Elaeocarpaceae and Oxalidaceae. Number of genera: see above under Distribution.
[NTK]

Sources

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2026. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Neotropikey

    • Milliken, W., Klitgard, B. and Baracat, A. (2009 onwards), Neotropikey - Interactive key and information resources for flowering plants of the Neotropics.
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Trees of New Guinea

    • Trees of New Guinea
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0