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The Winteraceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the Antarctic flora. The family includes 120 species in 9 genera.
The Winteraceae occur from tropical to temperate climate regions, including Malesia, Oceania, eastern Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and the Neotropic ecozone. Many members of the family are fragrant, and are used to produce essential oils.
Most of the genera are concentrated in Australasia and Malesia. Drimys is found in the Neotropic ecozone, from southern Mexico to the subarctic forests of southern South America. Takhtajania includes a single species, T. perrieri, endemic to Madagascar.The family disappeared from the African fossil record roughly 24 million years ago. The Winteraceae are characteristic of the Antarctic flora, which has its origins in the southern portion of the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, and is generally found in humid temperate and subtropical regions of the southern hemisphere, and at higher elevations in the humid tropics.
Winter's Bark (Drimys winteri), a slender tree native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate rain forests of Chile and Argentina, is grown as a garden plant for its handsome and fragrant mahogany-red bark and bright-green leaves, and its clusters of creamy white jasmine-scented flowers. Tasmannia lanceolata, known as Tasmanian pepper, is grown as an ornamental shrub, and used increasingly as a condiment.
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