Anisophylleaceae

The Anisophylleaceae are a small family with four genera and about 70 species, in the order Cucurbitales, according to the APG II. However, it is more isolated from the other suprafamilial clades in this order, while it shows some similarities in flower morphology with the genus Ceratopetalum (family Cunoniaceae, order Oxalidales). Several wood features of this family are more primitive than those of the other families in the order Cucurbitales. Previously, this family was categorized under its own order, Anisophylleales, by Takhtajan in 1997. It is a pantropical family of shrubs and medium-sized to fairly large trees, occurring in wet, tropical forests and swamps of America, Africa and Asia. The palmately veined leaves have a rather leathery texture, entire margins, and are often asymmetrical at the base. They have minute stipules or simply lack them. They are alternate; spiral, or distichous, or four-ranked (such as in Anisophyllea). The paired leaves may be different in size or shap......read more on Wikipedia.