Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Zygophyllaceae

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Dicotyledons: Rosids

Part of the book series: Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants ((SUCCPLANTS))

Abstract

A diagnostic description of the family is given with special emphasis on the occurrence of succulence. This is followed by information on the ordinal placement, a selection of important literature, and information on the geographical distribution. A short discussion of the family’s position in the angiosperm phylogeny is supplemented by a summary of its past and present classification in a phylogenetic context. The succulent features present amongst the species of the family are shortly summarized, as is its general economical importance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Beier, B.-A. [& al. 2003], Chase, M. W. & Thulin, M. (2003) Phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy of subfamily Zygophylloideae (Zygophyllaceae) based on molecular and morphological data. Pl. Syst. Evol. 240(1–4): 11–39, ills. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-003-0007-0.

  • Bellstedt, D. U. [& al. 2008], Zyl, L. van, Marais, E. M., Bytebier, B., Villiers, C. A. de, Makwarela, A. M. & Dreyer, L. L. (2008) Phylogenetic relationships, character evolution and biogeography of southern African members of Zygophyllum (Zygophyllaceae) based on three plastid regions. Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 47(3): 932–949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2008.02.019.

  • Bellstedt, D. U. [& al. 2012], Galley, C., Pirie, M. D. & Linder, H. P. (2012) The migration of the paleotropical arid flora: Zygophylloideae as an example. Syst. Bot. 37(4): 951–959. https://doi.org/10.1600/036364412X656608.

  • Christenhusz, M. J. M. [& al. 2018], Fay, M. F. & Byng, J. W. (eds.) (2018) The Global Flora. A practical flora to vascular plant species of the world. Special Edition, GLOVAP Nomenclature Part 1, Vol. 4. Bradford (GB): Plant Gateway.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forest, F. [& al. 2007], Grenyer, R., Rouget, M., Davies, T. J., Cowling, R. M., Faith, D. P., Balmford, A., Manning, J. C., Proches, S., Bank, M. van der, Reeves, G., Hedderson, T. A. J. & Savolainen, V. (2007) Preserving the evolutionary potential of floras in biodiversity hotspots. Nature (London) 445(7129): 757–760, ill., maps. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05587.

  • Lauterbach, M. [& al. 2016], Merwe, P. de W. van der, Kessler, L., Pirie, M. D., Bellstedt, D. U. & Kadereit, G. (2016) Evolution of leaf anatomy in arid environments – A case study in southern African Tetraena and Roepera (Zygophyllaceae). Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 97: 129–144, ills. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.01.002.

  • Mabberley, D. J. (2017) Mabberley’s Plant-Book. A portable dictionary of plants, their classification and uses. Ed. 4. Cambridge (GB): Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Makwarela, A. M. (2001) An assessment of the subgeneric classification of Zygophyllum (Zygophyllaceae) in southern Africa: Evidence from noncoding trnL-trnF chloroplast DNA sequences. Stellenbosch (ZA): University of Stellenbosch; unpublished M.Sc. thesis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney, H. A. [& al. 1977], Troughton, J. H. & Berry, J. A. (1977) Carbon isotope ratio measurements of succulent plants in southern Africa. Oecologia 30(4): 295–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00399762.

  • Retief, E. (1997) Zygophyllaceae R. Br. (Devil-thorn Family). In: Smith, G. F. & al. (eds.): List of southern African succulent plants; pp. 164–165. Pretoria (ZA): Umdaus Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheahan, M. C. (1991) Zygophyllaceae: Anatomy, taxonomy, and some aspects of physiology. London (GB): University of London; unpublished Ph.D. thesis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheahan, M. C. (2006) Zygophyllaceae. In: Kubitzki, K. (ed.): The families and genera of vascular plants, vol. IX; pp. 488–500, ills., key. Berlin/Heidelberg (DE): Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-32219-1_56.

  • Sheahan, M. C. & Chase, M. W. (1996) A phylogenetic analysis of Zygophyllaceae based on morphological, anatomical and rbcL DNA sequence data. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 122(4): 279–300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.1996.tb02077.x.

  • Sheahan, M. C. & Chase, M. W. (2000) Phylogenetic relationships within Zygophyllaceae based on DNA sequences of three plastid regions, with special emphasis on Zygophylloideae. Syst. Bot. 25(2): 371–384. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2666648.

  • Sheahan, M. C. & Cutler, D. C. (1993) Contribution of vegetative anatomy to the systematics of Zygophyllaceae. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 113(3): 227–262. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.1993.tb00339.x.

  • Vasek, F. C. (1980) Creosote Bush: Long-lived clones in the Mojave Desert. Amer. J. Bot. 67(2): 246–255. https://doi.org/10.2307/2442649.

  • Volkens, G. (1887) Die Flora der aegyptisch-arabischen Wüste auf Grundlage anatomisch-physiologischer Forschungen. Berlin (DE): Gebrüder Borntraeger. http://books.google.ch/books?id=sc5TAAAAMAAJ

  • Welkie, G. W. & Caldwell, M. (1970) Leaf anatomy of species in some dicotyledon families as related to the C3 and C4 pathways of carbon fixation. Canad. J. Bot. 48(12): 2135–2146. https://doi.org/10.1139/b70-309.

  • Wikström, N. [& al. 2001], Savolainen, V. & Chase, M. W. (2001) Evolution of the Angiosperms: Calibrating the family tree. Proc. Roy. Soc. London, Ser. B, Biol. Sci. 268(1482): 2211–2220. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1782.

  • Willert, D. J. von [& al. 1992], Eller, B. M., Werger, M. J. A, Brinckman, E. & Ihlenfeldt, H.-D. (1992) Life strategies of succulents in deserts. With special reference to the Namib desert. Cambridge (GB) etc.: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu, S.-D. [& al. 2018], Zhang, L.-J., Lin, L., Yu, S.-X., Chen, Z.-D. & Wang, W. (2018) Insights into the historical assembly of global dryland floras: The diversification of Zygophyllaceae. BMC Evol. Biol. 18(1): 166, 10 pp. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-018-1277-z.

  • Zemke, E. (1939) Anatomische Untersuchungen an Pflanzen der Namibwüste (Deutsch-Südwestafrika). Flora 33(4): 365–415, ills. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0367-1615(17)31577-X.

  • Zyl, L. van (2000) A systematic revision of the genus Zygophyllum (Zygophyllaceae) in the southern African region. Stellenbosch (ZA): University of Stellenbosch; unpublished Ph.D. thesis. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/51628

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ria Olivier Herbarium, Department of Botany, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa

    G. F. Smith & E. Figueiredo

Authors
  1. G. F. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. Figueiredo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. F. Smith .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Grün Stadt Zürich, Sukkulenten-Sammlung Zürich, Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Urs Eggli

  2. Dept of Systematic & Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Reto Nyffeler

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Smith, G.F., Figueiredo, E. (2022). Zygophyllaceae. In: Eggli, U., Nyffeler, R. (eds) Dicotyledons: Rosids. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85239-9_113-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85239-9_113-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-85239-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85239-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation