The Euphorbiaceae used to be a very big family, but recent molecular studies showed that only those species with a single ovule (egg)/seed per chamber in the ovary/fruit are real Euphorbiaceae. This reduced the family to roughly half of its former size. The present phylogeny is a kind of backbone phylogeny, which we are refining by adding more species and genera. Here the genera Trigonostemon and Dimorphocalyx are fitted in (fourth and fifth from the top). The triangles in the figure represent groups of various species or specimens.
Uitgelichte foto: Jatropha gossypiifolia, copyright M. Leti