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Flora Emslandia - Plants in Emsland (northwestern Germany)

Nolinoideae

Nolinoideae Burnett: Gilbert Thomas Burnett named in 1835 the Nolanidae after Nolina, a genus which is native to North America and contains 26 species. The subfamily described here consists of the former families of "Ruscaceae s.l." (Ruscaceae in a broad sense).

Ruscus is an evergreen Mediterranean genus. Where the botanical name comes from, is not certain, possibly it derived from lat. rusticus (= rural). The plants have acute, leaf-like organs that are, however, formed from lateral shoots (so-called phylloclades), the true leaves are reduced to scales. To protect against mice and rats, the branches were formerly used by the rural population for covering foods.

Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult to describe genera and families only on the basis of morphological similarities. The modern botany today clarifies relationships based on matches of certain DNA segments, so that it can sometimes lead to surprises. In the case of the Nolinoideae, families such as the Dracaenaceae (tree-like plants) and the Convallariaceae showed such a great genetic similarity to those of the "Ruscaceae in the narrow sense" (Ruscaceae s. str.), that they had to be grouped together.

By combining several families and some genera, the Nolinoideae today consist of about 25 genera with approximately 500 species which are divided into 6 tribes.