User:Reidness1991/sandbox

Winteraceae are a family within the angiosperms that consists of 40 - 120 species ordered into 8 genera. The main feature of the family is that they are evergreen, have vessel-less wood and contains oil glands. The name Winteraceae comes from Captain William Winter who captained a ship during Drake’s voyage and was forced to spend time in the straits of Magellan where the first member of this species was identified.

The Winteraceae are all trees and shrubs. They are distributed through South America, Australasia, Malesia and a single species is found on Madagascar.

The most common uses for the Winteraceae are as ornamental garden plants however they can be used as an anti-scorbutic and the berries from the genus Tasmannia can be used as a substitute for pepper.

Etymology
The family name ‘Winteraceae’ is derived from the genus Winteranus which was the first recorded representative of the family. The genus Winteranus is named after William Winter (Wynter) who captained one of the ships on Drake’s voyage in 1578 and was forced by adverse weather to spend some weeks in the Straits of Magellan, during that time it was discovered that the bark of a common Magellan tree had anti-scorbutic properties and it was named in his honour.

Distribution
The Winteraceae are found mostly in the southern hemisphere with the genera concentrated in Australasia and Malesia. The genera Drimys is found throughout South America. There is a single endemic species found in Madagascar which is Takhtajania perrieri, it should be noted that this is the only species in the genera Takhtajania.

Taxonomy
The taxonomy of the complete genera within the Winteraceae is poorly studied as many papers have focused on only a few genera. The Phylogenetic tree below is an adaptation from the paper by Vink (1988) which used derived character states to construct a phylogenetic tree of all of the genera.



Characteristics
The Winteraceae can be defined as evergreen trees and shrubs that have erect vessel-less woody stems which contain oil cells. The vessel-less wood is the main identifying character as it is the only family within the angiosperms that lacks vessels.

Leaf anatomy
The leaves are entire and spirally arranged; they lack stipules and are almost always glabrous. The outermost section of the cuticle on the abaxial surface of the leaf is often alveolar and, when glaucous gives the abaxial surface a grey to white colour. The genera Tasmannia and Takhtajania are an exception to this generalization as the stomates are occluded by the alveolar material. The types of sclerification within the leaves are also good characters for identifying individual species.

Inflorescence
The inflorescence in Winteraceae is terminal and in all genera with the exception of Takhtajania it is condensed.

The calyx is a calyptra in all species and in the genus Drimys it encloses the other floral component until the flower opens, the calyx drops when the flowers open. In the other genera the calyx ruptures early in floral development and remains under the fruit .The majority of genera have four free decussate petals that alternate with the sepals, the genera Drimys and Zygogynum are exceptions to this. Drimys has either two or no petals and Zygogynum varies in the concrescence of the petals.

The carpels are free with the apical-ventral slit between the two placentas being bordered by a pair of stigmatic crest. The stamens in most of the genera are free with multiple stamens arranged in a single or multiple whorls.

Fruits and Seeds
The fruit of the Winteraceae is a fleshy berry which contains plant secondary metabolites to deter predation by mammalian herbivores. The seeds have a hard brittle testa formed by the epidermis of the outer integument and a copious endosperm with a minute embryo.

Evolution
There is still an ongoing debate about the evolutionary history of the Winteraceae with two main views being argued. The original theory was that the Winteraceae were the most primitive family within the angiosperms. This is because they have vessel-less wood and the presence of vessels is believed to be a key character in the evolutionary success of the angiosperms. The more recent theory that is being argued is that the Winteraceae are not as primitive as previously believed. The grounds for this view are that the development of vessel-less wood is a more recent evolutionary adaptation to allow the plants to survive temperature extremes in particular freezing.

Ecology
The Winteraceae are insect pollinated by utilizing stigmatic exudates to attract nectar eating insects. A fleshy fruit is produced from pollinated flowers and it has been observed that bird dispersal is most common. Special note should be made that species within the Winteraceae are self incompatible.

Uses
The bark of Drimys winteri was used for its anti-scorbutic properties in the 16th century and it is now grown as a garden plant for ornamental value. The fruiting bodies of Tasmannia lanceolata is used as a condiment and as a substitute for pepper.

Genera
Belliolum

Bubbia

Drimys

Exospermum

Pseudowintera

Takhtajania

Tasmannia

Zygogynum