Corsiaceae

Corsiaceae is a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants. The APG II system (2003) treats the family in the order Liliales, in the clade monocots. This is a slight change from the APG system, of 1998, which left the family unplaced as to order, but did assign it also to the monocots. The family is usually taken to include three genera, Corsia, Corsiopsis, and Arachnitis with a total of 27 known species. As the members of this family are achlorophyllous non-autotrophic herbs (i.e. they are not green, and do not photosynthesize) they have sometimes been included in the family Burmanniaceae which, however, according to APG II is not even in the same order. The APG companion site cites a reference which suggests the family should consist of Corsia only, with Arachnitis better placed nearer to family Burmanniaceae. Corsiopsis, like Arachnitis a monotypic genus, has been described recently.