Butomus is the only known genus in the plant familyButomaceae, native to Europe and Asia. It is considered invasive in some parts of the United States.[3]
Taxonomy
The Butomaceae family has been recognized by most taxonomists as a plant family; it is sometimes called the "flowering-rush family".
The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998), also recognizes such a family, and places it in the orderAlismatales, in the clade monocots.
At the ranks of family and order, this is the same placement as in the Cronquist system. However, Cronquist assumed a much smaller order and assigned the order to subclass Alismatidae, in class Liliopsida [=monocotyledons].
Species
The family counts one species, Butomus umbellatus, or two according to some authorities.
Butomus umbellatus var. junceus (Turcz.) Micheli - Central Asia (also known as Butomus junceus Turcz.)[6]
References
^Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2009), "An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG III", Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 161 (2): 105–121, doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.00996.x, hdl:10654/18083
^illustration from Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany
