Droseraceae
From Freepedia
| Droseraceae | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image:Venus fly trap.jpg Venus flytrap | ||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Genera | ||||||||||
The Droseraceae are a family of carnivorous plants, commonly known as the sundew family. They include Drosera (the sundews), which produce sticky substances that trap prey, and Dionaea muscipula, the Venus fly trap, which has leaves modified to form traps that close when disturbed. Two other genera, Drosophyllum, and Aldrovanda, resemble a large sundew, and an aquatic Venus flytrap respectively.
The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group recommend the separation of the genus Drosophyllum from the rest of the family, placing it in the monotypic family Drosophyllaceae. This is in accordance with recent molecular and biochemical evidence that the carnivorous taxa in the Caryophyllales (the Droseraceae, Drosophyllaceae, Nepenthaceae, and Triphyophyllum) are embedded in a larger clade that includes some non-carnivorous groups such as the Ancistrocladaceae and possibly the Plumbaginaceae and Polygonaceae.
