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Chloranthaceae ( ) is a family of (angiosperms), the only family in the order Chloranthales. It is not closely related to any other family of flowering plants, and is among the early-diverging lineages in the angiosperms. They are woody or weakly woody plants occurring in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Madagascar, Central and South America, and the West Indies. The family consists of four extant genera, totalling about 77 known species according to Christenhusz and Byng in 2016. Some species are used in traditional medicine. The type genus is Chloranthus. The fossil record of the family, mostly represented by pollen such as Clavatipollenites, extends back to the dawn of the history of flowering plants in the Early Cretaceous, and has been found on all continents.
Sarcandra species are shrubs whose wood lacks Vessel element. They have perfect flower, with only one, club-shaped, stamen, in which the connective tissue (between the anther lobes which carry the pollen) is wide, and with a smooth and moist stigma. This genus has four species, which occur in Malaysia, China, Indochina, Japan, India, and Sri Lanka.
Chloranthus species are dwarf shrubs or , with xylem that contains vessels. Flowers are bisexual, each of which bears three stamens on straight filaments with three anther lobes and a wide connective, and with a smooth and moist stigma. The 20 species occur in southern and eastern Asia.
Ascarina has separate male and female flowers. The male flowers are subtended by two and have between one and five stamens, in which the connective is not widened. The female flower is without bracts, the stigma is dry and covered in papillae. The fruit is a drupe-like berry. There are 12 species, which occur on islands in the Pacific and insular South-East Asia, from New Zealand and the Marquesas to Borneo, and on Madagascar.
Hedyosmum has separate male and female flowers. The male flowers are without bracts and have one stamen, in which the connective is not widened. The female flower is without bracts; the stigma is dry and covered in papillae. Female flowers have a 3-lobed Sepal. The fruit, a drupe, has a kernel with a hard and woody shell. There are 43 species found in Latin America, including the Antilles, as well as one species found in Southeast Asia.
A 2004 study based on comparisons of homologous DNA fragments indicated that both the family Chloranthaceae and its extant genera Ascarina, Chloranthus, Hedyosmum and Sarcandra are probably Monophyly, with Hedyosmum being the first to diverge from the rest, and Ascarina being the sister group of the clade consisting of Sarcandra and Chloranthus. , these four extant genera are recognized, and insights into their relationships are expressed in the cladogram below:
The extinct genus Chloranthistemon also belongs to this family.
The Thorne system (1992) placed it
The Dahlgren system raised the family to be
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