The Vitaceae are a family of
flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species,[3] including common plants such as
grapevines (Vitis spp.) and
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). The family name is derived from the genus Vitis.
The family is economically important as the
berries of Vitis species, commonly known as
grapes, are an important fruit crop and, when fermented, produce
wine.
The name sometimes appears as Vitidaceae, but Vitaceae is a
conserved name and therefore has priority over both Vitidaceae and another name sometimes found in the older literature, Ampelidaceae. In the
APG III system (2009) onwards, the family is placed in its own order, Vitales.
Molecular phylogenetic studies place the Vitales as the most basal clade in the
rosids.[4] In the
Cronquist system, the family was placed near the family
Rhamnaceae in order
Rhamnales.
Leea D.Royen: previously placed in its own
monotypic family, Leeaceae, was included in Vitaceae by
APG IV (2016)[4] and the
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website.
Vitoideae
Five tribes are now recognised in this subfamily:[5]
Well preserved-fruits of Indovitis chitaleyae containing seeds with similar morphology to the Vitaceae have been recovered from
Late CretaceousDeccanIntertrappean beds of several sites in central
India. These fruits and their dispersed seeds found in the same sediments, about 66 million years old, represent the oldest known fossils of the grape family. The fossil fruits containing 4 to 6 seeds are very similar to extant Vitis.[6]
^Wen J, Lu LM, Nie ZI, Liu XQ, Zhang N, Ickert‐Bond S, Gerrath J, Manchester SR, Boggan J, Chen ZD (2018) A new phylogenetic tribal classification of the grape family (Vitaceae). Journal of Systematics and Evolution 56(4): 262-272.
^Manchester, Steven R.; Kapgate, Dashrath K.; Wen, Jun (September 2013). "Oldest fruits of the grape family (Vitaceae) from the Late Cretaceous Deccan cherts of India". Am. J. Bot. 100 (9): 1849–59.
doi:
10.3732/ajb.1300008.
JSTOR23596215.
PMID24036414..