The
Clusiaceae or
Guttiferae Juss. (1789) (
nom. alt. et cons. = alternative and valid name) are a
family of
plants formerly including about 37
genera and 1610
species of
trees and
shrubs, often with milky
sap and
fruits or
capsules for
seeds. It is primarily tropical. More so than many plant families, it shows large variation in
plant morphology (for example, three to 10, fused or unfused petals, and many other traits). According to the
APG III, this family belongs to the order
Malpighiales. The
APG III system reduced the circumscription of this family to just 14 genera and about 595 species. Previous circumscriptions have often included the family
Hypericaceae as a subfamily within Clusiaceae.