Aptandraceae

The Aptandraceae is a family of flowering plants in the sandalwood order. The members of the tropical plant family are parasitic on other plants, usually on the roots, and grow as trees, shrubs or woody lianas.

The genera of the family have long been recognized by taxonomists as forming a clade (van Tieghem (1896), Pierre (1897), and Gagnepain (1910)), but have at other times been placed in the family Olacaceae. In the APG III system, it was accepted that the Olacaceae sensu lato were paraphyletic but did not propose new family limits as relationships were considered uncertain. Subsequently Olacaceae has been split into six families, including Aptandraceae.