Hey everybody,

I have been studying citrus and it's relatives for quite some time now. When I started to make study of the subject, I wanted to have a broad scope of knowledge on the subject but had to decide just where I would draw the line. Just where would I say ok, this is the start of where I would like to study citrus. So I decided to start at the familty level. I would study Rutaceae and put together as much info as I could on this Family. Rutaceae is part of the following scientific classification:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Sapindales

The Order of Sapindales contains 9 families, they are:

Sapindales---------BIEBERSTEINIACEAE

:-------KIRKIACEAE

:

: :---RUTACEAE

:---:---MELIACEAE

: :---SIMAROUBACEAE

:

: :---ANACARDIACEAE

:---:---BURSERACEAE

:

:-------SAPINDACEAE

:-------NITRARIACEAE




Rutaceae is in a group of 2 other very closely related Families, Meliaceae & Simaroubaceae. Of course I am

studying Rutaceae first and formost, and probably after a time I will be studying the rest of the Sapindale order, probably going to Meliaceae & Simaroubaceae and the rest.

From here I continue to follow Swingle's subfamily example with a bit of modern updating. Here is the breakdown:

RUTACEAE----------Rutoideae

: :---Toddaliodeae

:

:-------Dictyolomatoideae

:-------Flindersioideae

:-------Spathelioideae

:-------Aurantiodeae

:

:.......Rhabdodendroideae (No longer part

: of Rutaceae)

:.......Cneoraceae (Transitional, close to

: Rutaceae and Meliaceae)

:.......Unknown (Not classified in any Subfamily

that I could see)


Of course I decided to start with Aurantiodeae. Since The Citrus subfamily is what I wanted to know more about first

and foremost. The breakdown of the Aurantiodeae subfamily has updated a bit since The Citrus Industry, but there have been no major changes to it. Currently, it looks like this from my research:


Aurantioideae---Clauseneae----Micromelinae----------------------------Micromelum

! ! !-----------------------Aulacia

! !

! !--Clauseninae-----------------------------Glycosmis

! ! !-----------------------Clausena

! ! !-----------------------Murraya

! ! !-----------------------Bergera

! !

! !--Merrilliinae----------------------------Merrillia

!

!-Citreae----!--Triphasiinae-------Wenzelia-------------Wenzelia

! ! !----Monanthocitrus

! ! !----Oxanthera

! ! !----Merope

! !

! !--Triphasia------------Triphasia

! ! !----Pambrus

! !

! !--Luvunga--------------Luvunga

! !----Paramignya

!

!--Citrinae-----------PCFT-----------------Severinia

! ! !----Pleiospermium

! ! !----Burkillanthus

! ! !----Limnocitrus

! ! !----Naringi

! !

! !--NCFT-----------------Citropsis

! ! !----Atalantia

! !

! !--TCFT-----------------Fortunella

! !----Eremocitrus

! !----Poncirus

! !----Clymenia

! !----Microcitrus

! !----Citrus

!

!--Balsamocitrinae---Talbog Group----------Swingela

!

!-Bael-Fruit Group------Afraegle

! !----Aeglopsis

! !----Balsamocitrus

!

!-Wood Apple Group------Limonia

!----Feroniella

PCFT = Primitive citrus Fruit Trees

NCFT= Near Citrus Fruit Trees

TCFT= True Citrus Fruit Trees

The most noteable differences are

1) Aulacia was added to Micromelinae. I did this because I was unable to find 1 to 1 synonym ratio for that species.

2) Bergera was added to Clauseninae. Bergera was broken out from Murraya in recent years.

3) Naringi replaced Hesperethusa a few years back and is now a synonym.

4) Limonia replaced Feronia a few years ago as well and is now a synonym.

So, you may be asking yourself, just what is my point. Well, since I've been studying this information and collecting data I figured I would share my findings as I went along. Also as people read my post someone may find something wrong with my data and choose to correct it. It may also give rise to a further sub discussion, etc.

I hope the info I have posted here is informative and you guys get something out of it. In following posts over time in the forum I will be some posting info on the various species of Rutaceae. These posting may include a hyperlink to a spreadsheet form for the particular species and a link to a Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel copy of the data. Always feel free to download or view this information.

Anyway, I think I have rambled enough, so if anyone has any questions or comments, please let me know.

VTY

-Mark