Friday, 11 May 2012

Myristicaceae

Myristicaceae is the botanical name for a family of flowering plants. The family has been recognised by most taxonomists; it is sometimes called the "nutmeg family", after its most famous member, Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans).

The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Magnoliales in the clade magnoliids.

The family consists of about twenty genera, with several hundred species, of trees and shrubs, found in tropical areas across the world. The best known genera are Myristica and Virola.