Diversity and Distribution of Climbing Plants in Eurasia and North Africa

Abstract

A total of 12,382 climbers from 143 families and 1,415 genera are recorded in the Old World, including 57 families with climbers only in the Old World (e.g. Actinidiaceae). As for Eurasia and North Africa, 6,659 climbers were documented to be native, belonging to 101 families and 809 genera. About 30.8 % of them are herbaceous and 69.2 % are somewhat woody. Only one family, but 285 genera (35.2 %) and 5,283 species (79.3 %) are climber-endemic to Eurasia and North Africa. Leguminosae and Apocynaceae are the two largest families with climbers, followed by Convolvulaceae, Vitaceae, Cucurbitaceae and Rubiaceae. The most climber-abundant families in Eurasia and North Africa are similar to Sub-Saharan Africa, except Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae and Arecaceae. The Bignoniaceae, Araceae and Compositae are less prevalent in Eurasia and North Africa compared with the Americas, while Ranunculaceae, Rosaceae, Arecaceae and Annonaceae stand out. The study area was divided into 19 regions and 211 districts. Diversity and geographical distribution of climbing plants in these regions and districts are discussed. South-east Asia, South China, South Asia and the Himalayas are the top four climber-abundant regions and each have more than 1,000 climbers and significantly higher than the rest regions. The proportion of climbing plants in the spermatophyte flora declined from 20 % in Malay Peninsula to less than 2 % in Sahara, Asian plateaus and the northern Eurasia.

Appendix

Climbing plant diversity of the Old World (Eurasia, Africa & West Malay Archipelago)

Num.	Family	Genus	Species
1	Leguminosae	149	1,517
2	Apocynaceae	176	1,355
3	Vitaceae	11	621
4	Convolvulaceae	41	593
5	Rubiaceae	88	589
6	Cucurbitaceae	76	552
7	Annonaceae	43	426
8	Celastraceae	32	359
9	Arecaceae	12	340
10	Menispermaceae	50	297
11	Rosaceae	7	239
12	Ranunculaceae	6	230
13	Compositae	46	207
14	Dioscoreaceae	3	203
15	Piperaceae	3	188
16	Combretaceae	6	181
17	Melastomataceae	27	179
18	Euphorbiaceae	29	164
19	Lamiaceae	27	161
20	Malvaceae	26	154
21	Malpighiaceae	17	151
22	Oleaceae	4	138
23	Passifloraceae	10	138
24	Araceae	14	131
25	Moraceae	8	131
26	Capparaceae	10	127
27	Poaceae	43	118
28	Connaraceae	14	115
29	Rhamnaceae	12	114
30	Aristolochiaceae	4	113
31	Smilacaceae	2	110
32	Loganiaceae	3	109
33	Acanthaceae	29	108
34	Icacinaceae	17	106
35	Dichapetalaceae	1	101
36	Nepenthaceae	1	101
37	Asparagaceae	8	96
38	Primulaceae	4	93
39	Orchidaceae	24	87
40	Araliaceae	7	83
41	Campanulaceae	6	82
42	Rutaceae	12	76
43	Actinidiaceae	3	66
44	Gentianaceae	6	64
45	Urticaceae	20	60
46	Caprifoliaceae	3	57
47	Solanaceae	5	49
48	Amaranthaceae	13	43
49	Gesneriaceae	6	42
50	Polygonaceae	10	38
51	Cannabaceae	2	38
52	Lardizabalaceae	6	38
53	Pandanaceae	2	38
54	Phyllanthaceae	11	37
55	Schisandraceae	2	37
56	Linaceae	3	35
57	Boraginaceae	7	33
58	Ericaceae	6	32
59	Gnetaceae	1	32
60	Dilleniaceae	2	31
61	Sabiaceae	1	31
62	Sapindaceae	10	30
63	Geraniaceae	3	29
64	Hernandiaceae	1	27
65	Papaveraceae	6	24
66	Elaeagnaceae	1	24
67	Anacardiaceae	10	23
68	Commelinaceae	10	23
69	Crassulaceae	6	22
70	Ancistrocladaceae	1	20
71	Nyctaginaceae	3	20
72	Stemonaceae	1	17
73	Hydrangeaceae	6	16
74	Polygalaceae	3	16
75	Thymelaeaceae	5	16
76	Bignoniaceae	10	15
77	Marantaceae	4	15
78	Scrophulariaceae	6	14
79	Begoniaceae	1	12
80	Opiliaceae	5	12
81	Olacaceae	4	11
82	Santalaceae	5	11
83	Lythraceae	2	10
84	Paulowniaceae	2	10
85	Caryophyllaceae	4	9
86	Chrysobalanaceae	1	9
87	Orobanchaceae	6	9
88	Plantaginaceae	5	9
89	Apiaceae	3	8
90	Meliaceae	1	8
91	Burseraceae	1	7
92	Lauraceae	2	7
93	Ephedraceae	1	6
94	Salicaceae	4	6
95	Balsaminaceae	1	5
96	Basellaceae	1	5
97	Cornaceae	1	5
98	Loranthaceae	5	5
99	Plumbaginaceae	1	5
100	Colchicaceae	2	4
101	Cyperaceae	2	4
102	Talinaceae	2	4
103	Aquifoliaceae	1	3
104	Brassicaceae	2	3
105	Dioncophyllaceae	3	3
106	Gelsemiaceae	2	3
107	Myrtaceae	2	3
108	Ochnaceae	2	3
109	Oxalidaceae	1	3
110	Salvadoraceae	2	3
111	Adoxaceae	1	2
112	Cardiopteridaceae	1	2
113	Ebenaceae	1	2
114	Flagellariaceae	1	2
115	Grossulariaceae	1	2
116	Hypericaceae	1	2
117	Myristicaceae	2	2
118	Pittosporaceae	1	2
119	Zygophyllaceae	2	2
120	Achariaceae	1	1
121	Barbeuiaceae	1	1
122	Gerrardinaceae	1	1
123	Goodeniaceae	1	1
124	Hamamelidaceae	1	1
125	Iteaceae	1	1
126	Lecythidaceae	1	1
127	Lophopyxidaceae	1	1
128	Monimiaceae	1	1
129	Montiniaceae	1	1
130	Pandaceae	1	1
131	Pedaliaceae	1	1
132	Pentadiplandraceae	1	1
133	Pentaphylacaceae	1	1
134	Peraceae	1	1
135	Peridiscaceae	1	1
136	Phytolaccaceae	1	1
137	Portulacaceae	1	1
138	Resedaceae	1	1
139	Rhizophoraceae	1	1
140	Sapotaceae	1	1
141	Stilbaceae	1	1
142	Ulmaceae	1	1
143	Verbenaceae	1	1
	Total	1,415	12,382