Colchicaceae

Colchicaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes 15 genera with a total of about 285 known species according to Christenhusz and Byng in 2016.^[2]

Colchicaceae
Colchicum autumnale
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Liliales
Family:	Colchicaceae DC.[1]
Genera
See text

Colchicum persicum in Behbahan

Colchicum persicum in Behbahan

Description

The family is characterized by the presence of colchicine.^[3]

Taxonomy

The APG III system, of 2009 (unchanged from the APG systems, of 1998 and 2003), recognizes this family and places it in the order Liliales, in the clade monocots.^[1] It is a group of herbaceous perennials with rhizomes or corms.

The Dahlgren system and the Thorne system (1992) also recognized this family, and placed it in order Liliales in superorder Lilianae in subclass Liliidae (monocotyledons) of class Magnoliopsida (angiosperms).

Genera

The phylogenetic classification of Vinnersten & Manning circumscribes the family as follows:^[4]

• tribe Burchardieae
  • Burchardia R.Br.
• tribe Uvularieae
  • Disporum Salisb. (excluding the North American species to the genus Prosartes D.Don, now in the family Liliaceae, Liliales)
  • Uvularia L.
• tribe Tripladenieae
  • Kuntheria Conran & Clifford
  • Schelhammera R.Br.
  • Tripladenia D.Don
• tribe Iphigenieae
  • Camptorrhiza E.Phillips
  • Iphigenia Kunth
• tribe Anguillarieae
  • Baeometra Salisb.
  • Wurmbea Thunb. (including Neodregea C.H.Wright and Onixotis Raf.)
• tribe Colchiceae
  • Colchicum L. (including Androcymbium Willd., Bulbocodium L. and Merendera Ramond)
  • Gloriosa L. (including Littonia Hook.)
  • Hexacyrtis Dinter
  • Ornithoglossum Salisb.
  • Sandersonia Hook.

Colchicaceae	Burchardieae Burchardia Uvularieae Disporum Uvularia Tripladenieae Tripladenia Schelhammera Kuntheria Iphigenieae Camptorrhiza Iphigenia Anguillarieae Baeometra Wurmbea Colchiceae Gloriosa Sandersonia Ornithoglossum Hexacyrtis Colchicum

The genus Petermannia F.Muell. is excluded from this family and placed in its own family Petermanniaceae, Liliales. The former controversy regarding the inclusion of Androcymbium in Colchicum has now been resolved in favor of the 2007 classification of Manning et al.^[5] who included Androcymbium in Colchicum. This is supported by molecular phylogenetic studies with dense species sampling (i.e. 41 species previously placed in Androcymbium and 96 species of Colchicum) that showed that the type species of Androcymbium, A. melanthioides (Colchicum melanthioides), is more closely related to species of Colchicum than it is to many species traditionally placed in Androcymbium.^[6][7]

Subsequently, Nguyen et al.(2013) proposed reclassifying the family on the basis of subfamilies:^[8]

• Subfamily Uvularioideae (distribution: Eastern Asia and North America)
  • Tribe Uvularieae (Disporum, Uvularia)
• Subfamily Wurmbeoideae (distribution: Australia, Africa, Europe, central and tropical Asia)
  • Tribe Burchardieae (Burchardia)
  • Tribe Tripladenieae (Tripladenia, Schelhammera, Kuntheria)
  • Tribe Iphigenieae (Iphigenia, Camptorrhiza)
  • Tribe Angullarieae (Wurmbea, Onixotis, Neodregea, Baeometra)
  • Tribe Colchiceae (Gloriosa (including Littonia), Colchicum (including Merendera, Bulbocodium, and probably Androcymbium), Hexacyrtis, Ornithoglossum, Sandersonia