Thismiaceae

{{Short description|Family of plants}}

File:Thismia rodwayi (Fairy lantern) Bouton.JPG

Thismiaceae is a family of flowering plants whose status is currently uncertain. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classifications (APG II, APG III, and APG IV) merge Thismiaceae into Burmanniaceae, noting that some studies have suggested that Thismiaceae, Burmanniaceae and Taccaceae should be separate families, whereas others support their merger.{{Cite journal |last=Angiosperm Phylogeny Group |year=2016 |title=An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=181 |issue=1 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.1111/boj.12385 |doi-access=free }}

The family has been recognized by some authors (like J. Hutchinson, Chase et al. 1995,Chase, M.W., Stevenson, D.W., Wilkin, P. & Rudall, P.J. 1995. Monocot systematics: a combined analysis. Pp. 685–730 in: Rudall. P.J., Cribb, P.J., Cutler, D.F. & Humphries, C.J. (eds.), Monocotyledons: Systematics and Evolution.Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. 2000;Chase, M.W., Soltis, D.E., Soltis, P.S., Rudall, P.J., Fay, M.F., Hahn, W.H., Sullivan, S., Joseph, J., Molvray, M., Kores, P.J., Givnish, T.J., Sytsma, K.J. & Pires, J.C. 2000. Higher-level systematics of the monocotyledons:an assessment of current knowledge and a new classification.Pp. 3–16 in: Wilson, K.L. & Morrison, D.A.(eds.), Monocots: Systematics and Evolution. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood. Caddick et al. 2000;Caddick, L.R., Rudall & P. Wilkin, P.J. 2000. Floral morphology and development in Dioscoreales. Feddes Repert. 111: 189–230.Caddick, L.R., Rudall, P.J., Wilkin, P. & Chase, M.W. 2000. Yams and their allies: systematics of Dioscoreales. Pp. 475–487 in: Wilson, K.L. & Morrison, D.A. (eds.), Monocots: Systematics and Evolution. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood. Neyland 2002;Neyland, R. 2002. A phylogeny inferred from large-subunit (26S) ribosomal DNA sequences suggests that Burmanniales are polyphyletic. Austral. Syst. Bot. 15: 19–28. Thiele & Jordan 2002,Thiele, K.R. & Jordan, P. 2002. Thismia clavarioides (Thismiaceae), a new species of fairy lantern from New South Wales. Telopea 9: 765–771. Merckx et al. 2006Merckx, V., Schols, V., Maas-van de Kamer, H., Maas, P., Huysmans, S., & Smets, E. (2006). Phylogeny and evolution of Burmanniaceae (Dioscoreales) based on nuclear and mitochondrial data. American Journal of Botany 93: 1684-1698 and Woodward et al. 2007Woodward, C. L.; Berry, P. E.; Maas-van de Kamer, H.; Swing, K. (2007). Tiputinia foetida, a new mycoheterotrophic genus of Thismiaceae from Amazonian Ecuador, and a likely case of deceit pollination. Taxon 56(1):157-162.). Others have supported the APG position of merging the family into Burmanniaceae, sometimes as the tribe Thismieae (Maas-van de Kamer in Kubitzki systemMaas-van de Kamer, H. (1998). Burmanniaceae. Pp.154–163 in: Kubitzki, K., Huber, H., Rudall, P.J., Stevens, P.S. & Stützel, T. (eds), The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, Vol. III, Monocotyledons: Lilianae (except Orchidaceae). Springer-Verlag, Berlin. and others).

For those who keep the family separate, it consists of six genera, three (Afrothismia, Haplothismia and Oxygyne) are entirely from Old World, Thismia is from tropical areas of both America and Asia, as well as three temperate species in Illinois (U.S.A), Japan and New Zealand, temperate Australia and Tiputinia is from the Amazon basin.

;List of genera

• Afrothismia (Engl.) Schltr.
• Haplothismia Airy Shaw
• Oxygyne Schltr.
• Relictithismia Suetsugu, Yas.Nakam. & Tagane
• Thismia Griff.
• Tiputinia P.E. Berry & C. L. Woodw.