Sterculioideae
Sterculioideae is a subfamily of the family Malvaceae containing evergreen and deciduous tree and shrub genera, that were previously placed in the obsolete family Sterculiaceae.
Taxonomy
A 2006 molecular study indicated the Sterculioideae was most likely to be a monophyletic group, and that it had four major clades within it. However, the relationships between the clades were not resolved.The clades consist of:
- a Cola clade, with the genera Cola and Octolobus of Africa and Pterygota of Africa, South America and southeast Asia forming a subclade, Hildegardia and Firmiana forming a second and Scaphium and Pterocymbium a third.
- Heritiera clade comprising the genus Heritiera
- Sterculia clade comprising the large genus Sterculia of Australasia and Asia.
- Brachychiton clade of Australasian and New Caledonian species, including Brachychiton, Acropogon, Argyrodendron and Franciscodendron.
List of genera
- Acropogon
- Argyrodendron
- Brachychiton
- Cola
- Firmiana
- Franciscodendron
- Heritiera
- Hildegardia
- Octolobus
- Pterocymbium
- Pterygota
- Scaphium
- Sterculia
- †''Florissantia''