Melanthiaceae, also called the bunchflower family, is a family of flowering herbaceous perennial plants native to the Northern Hemisphere. Along with many other lilioid monocots, early authors considered members of this family to belong to the family Liliaceae, in part because both their sepals and petals closely resemble each other and are often large and showy like those of lilies, They have been divided into five tribes. It has a total of c. 173 known species. Generic assignments within the tribe Melanthieae in particular have been changed radically as a result of molecular phylogenetic studies in the 21st century.

;Heloniadeae

  • Helonias <small>L.</small>
  • Heloniopsis <small>A.Gray</small>
  • Ypsilandra <small>Franch.</small>

;Chionographideae

  • Chamaelirium <small>Willd.</small>
  • Chionographis <small>Maxim.</small>

;Melanthieae

  • Amianthium <small>A.Gray</small>
  • Anticlea <small>Kunth</small>
  • Melanthium <small>J.Clayton ex L.</small>
  • Schoenocaulon <small>A.Gray</small>
  • Stenanthium <small>(A.Gray) Kunth</small>
  • Toxicoscordion <small>Rydb.</small>
  • Veratrum <small>L.</small>
  • Zigadenus <small>Michx.</small>

;Xerophylleae

  • Xerophyllum <small>Michx.</small>

;Parideae

  • Paris <small>L.</small> (including Daiswa and Kinugasa)
  • Pseudotrillium <small>S.B.Farmer</small>
  • Trillium <small>L.</small> (including Trillidium)

References

  • Melanthiaceae [in a very wide sense], Trilliaceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. Version: 3 May 2006. http://delta-intkey.com .
  • links and more links at CSDL, Texas