Description:

• Trees, shrubs, rarely subshrubs, or climbers, often aromatic; stems with resin canals and septate pith
• Leaves alternate, distichous, simple, entire, penninerved; stipules 0
• Inflorescences terminal, leaf-opposed, axillary or supra-axillary, or cauliflorous, solitary, paired or in few- to many-flowered fascicles, or occasionally cymosely racemose
• Flowers usually bisexual, occasionally unisexual, regular, very often fleshy or brittle, often drooping, fragrant; bracts often present
• Sepals (2)3(4), valvate or imbricate in bud, free or connate, at least at base, persistent or deciduous
• Petals hypogynous, 3-6(-12), usually 6, free, in two whorls of 3, imbricate or valvate in each whorl
• Stamens many, rarely few, hypogynous; filaments short, thick and free or rarely longer and united into a tube; anthers linear, opening by longitudinal slits, with extrorse or lateral, rarely introrse, dehiscence; connective often produced into an appendage
• Gynoecium consisting of many or few carpels, rarely 1, free or rarely united into a 1-locular ovary with parietal placentas; ovules 1 or 2, inserted at base of carpel or 1-several on ventral suture in 1 or 2 whorls, anatropous; styles free or connate, mostly shortly terete, thick; stigma capitate or oblong, sometimes sulcate or bilobed
• Fruit either consisting of 1 to several fleshy or ± woody indehiscent or rarely dehiscent, sessile or stipitate monocarps, or syncarpous with numerous 1-seeded fruiting carpels, or 1-locular and many-seeded, cylindrical and often moniliform, rounded or irregular
• Seeds rather large, sometimes arillate with a groove encircling seed; endosperm abundant, ruminate, hard, oily; embryo straight, minute

Nomenclature:

• Annonaceae
  • Jussieu: 283 (1789), as Anoneae
  • Dunal: 1 (1817)
  • Candolle: 177 (1832)
  • Endlicher: 830 (1839)
  • Sonder: 7 (1860) as Anonaceae
  • Bentham: 20 (1862)
  • Prantl: 23 (1891)
  • Fries: 1 (1959)
  • Robson: 104 (1960)
  • Van Setten & Maas: 675 (1990)
  • Kessler: 93 (1993)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Genera ± 130; species ± 2 300, pantropical; particularly in lowland evergreen forest
• Southern Africa: Genera 8, species 14

References:

• BENTHAM, G. 1862. Anonaceae. In G. Bentham & J.D. Hooker, Genera plantarum 1. Lovell Reeve & Co., London
• CANDOLLE, A.L.P.P. DE. 1832. Mémoire sur la famille des Anonacées, et en particulier sur les espèces du pays des Birmans. Mémoires de la Société de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève 5
• DUNAL, M.F. 1817. Monographie de la famille des Anonacées. Treuttel & Würtz, Paris
• ENDLICHER, S.L. 1839. Anonaceae. Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita 2. Beck, Vienna
• FRIES, R.E. 1959. Annonaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 2,17a
• JUSSIEU, A.L. DE. 1789. Anoneae, les Anones. Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita. Herissant & Barrois, Paris
• KESSLER, P.J. A.1993. Annonaceae. In K. Kubitzki, J.G. Rohwer & V. Bittrich, The families and genera of vascular plants - dicotyledons 2. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
• PRANTL, K. 1891. Anonaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien III,2
• ROBSON, N.K.B. 1960. Annonaceae. Flora zambesiaca 1
• SONDER, O.W. 1860. Anonaceae. Flora capensis 1
• VAN SETTEN, A.K. & MAAS, P.J.M. 1990. Studies in Annonaceae XIV. Index to generic names of Annonaceae. Taxon 39

Resources:

• Key to Annonaceae genera

• Annonaceae genera: