Myrtaceae

Family of Myrtales

Food, Plant source foods, Plants (Plantae), Flowering plats (angiospermae), Mesangiosperms, Eudicots, Core eudicots, Superrosids, Rosids, Malvids (Eurosids II), Myrtales

Consumption area(s): Earth

Note: For better understanding, please read the article on flowering plants (angiospermae) first. If you come across unfamiliar words, you can click on any highlighted term to open the glossary with definitions of key botanical terms.

Introduction

Myrtaceae, commonly known as the myrtle family, is a group of dicotyledonous plants classified within the order Myrtales. This family includes a range of well-known genera and species such as eucalyptus, guava, clove, allspice, pōhutukawa, and feijoa, many of which hold ecological or economic importance.

Description of Myrtales

All representatives of this family are woody plants, characterized by the presence of essential oils stored in specialized tissues. Their foliage is typically evergreen, with leaves that are simple, generally entire-margined, and arranged either alternately or oppositely along the stem.

The reproductive structures follow a fairly consistent structural plan: flower are usually organized in multiples of four or five. While the standard configuration includes five petals, in some genera these may be reduced in size or entirely absent. A striking feature of many species is the presence of numerous, often vividly colored stamens, which tend to be the most visually prominent part of the flower.

Recent assessments indicate that Myrtaceae comprises approximately 5,950 species distributed across about 132 genera. The family is broadly established throughout tropical and warm-temperate regions, and it is especially prominent in several global biodiversity hotspots.

Within Australia, Eucalyptus represents a structurally and ecologically dominant genus, particularly in more mesic environments, extending northward in scattered populations as far as the Philippines. Notably, Eucalyptus regnans holds the distinction of being the tallest flowering plant known.

Classification of Myrtaceae

This family is in turn divided into genera. Among these we find:

• Acca (feijoa)
• Backhousia (lemon myrtle)
• Blepharocalyx (arrayán del campo)
• Calycorectes (guabiraba)
• Calyptranthes (pimenta de macaco)
• Campomanesia (gabiroba, guabiroba)
• Chamguava (chamguava)
• Eucalyptus (eucalyptus)
• Eugenia (Eugenia candolleana, grumichama, pitanga, ubajay)
• Luma (arrayán)
• Melaleuca (paper mulberry)
• Metrosideros (metrosideros)
• Mosiera (mountain guava)
• Myrceugenia (luma chequen)
• Myrcia (cambuí, taperebá)
• Myrcianthes (guabiyú)
• Myrciaria (cambucá, jabuticaba)
• Myrtus (myrtle)
• Pimenta (Jamaican pepper, pimento)
• Plinia (cambucá, jabuticaba)
• Psidium (araçá, guava)
• Rhodomyrtus (rose myrtle)
• Siphoneugena (guabiraba)
• Syzygium (cloves, jambul, lilly pilly, macopa, rose apple, water apple)
• Ugni (murtilla, ugniberry)