Kingdom Plantae Scientific name Saxifragaceae Rank Family | Order Saxifragales Higher classification Saxifragales | |
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Lower classifications Rockfoils, Alumroot, False goat's be, Bergenia, Chrysosplenium | ||
Saxifragaceae is a plant family with about 640 known species in 33 accepted genera.
The flowers are hermaphroditic and actinomorphic. They have 4 or 5 petals and 5 or 10 stamens.
Well known species include:
Parnassiaceae have sometimes been treated as part of this family, although they are only distantly genetically related and are now placed in Celastraceae.
Evolution
Saxifragaceae are found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, with centers of diversity in the Himalayas, East Asia, and Western North America. The greatest diversity is in the Pacific Northwest region of North America.
The family is divided into two main lineages – the saxifragoids, which includes genera Saxifraga and Saxifragella, and the heucheroids, which includes all the other genera. The heucheroids are composed of eight tribes: Darmera (Astilboides, Bergenia, Darmera, Mukdenia, Orestitrope, and Rodgersia), Heuchera (Bensoniella, Conimitella, Elmera, Heuchera, Mitella, Tellima, Tiarella, and Tolmiea), Peltoboykinia (Chrysosplenium and Peltoboykinia), Micranthes (Micranthes), Boykinia (Boykinia, Bolandra, Hieronymusia, Jepsonia, Lithophragma, Sullivantia, Suxdorfia and Telesonix), Saniculphyllum (Saniculphyllum), Leptarrhena (Leptarrhena and Tanakaea), Astilbe (Astilbe and Saxifragopsis), and Cascadia (Cascadia and Saxifragoides).
