Stemonaceae

The Stemonaceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Pandanales.

The family consists of four genera with ca 37 known species[2] distributed in areas with seasonal climate across Southeast Asia and tropical Australia.

As in other members of the Pandanales, the flower morphology in the Stemonaceae is distinctive and rather atypical for monocots, whose floral anatomy is three-parted (trimerous).

[3] In the majority of Stemonaceae species, flowers are composed of four identical parts, i.e., tetramerous, or sometimes dimerous (two-parted).

[8] The Stemonaceae contain various herbaceous plants, many of which are crawling or climbing species preferring moist or dry tropical habitats.

Others play a role in folk medicine and are valued for their antibacterial, antitussive, antifungal, and other properties against lung or skin diseases.