Nyssaceae in the context of "Mastixia"

Tupelo /ˈtuːpɪloʊ/, genus Nyssa /ˈnɪsə/, is a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves. It is sometimes included in the subfamily Nyssoideae of the dogwood family, Cornaceae, but is placed by other authorities in the family Nyssaceae. In the APG IV system, it is placed in Nyssaceae.

Most Nyssa species are highly tolerant of wet soils and flooding, and some need such environments as habitat. Some of the species are native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada through the Eastern United States to Mexico and Central America. Other species are found in eastern and southeastern Asia, from China south through Indochina to Java and southwest to the Himalayas.

The Cornaceae, the dogwood family, are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants in the order Cornales. The family contains approximately 85 species in two genera, Alangium and Cornus. They are mostly trees and shrubs, which may be deciduous or evergreen, although a few species are perennial herbs. Members of the family usually have opposite or alternate simple leaves, four- or five-parted flowers clustered in inflorescences or pseudanthia, and drupaceous fruits. The family is primarily distributed in northern temperate regions and tropical Asia. In northern temperate areas, Cornaceae are well known from the dogwoods Cornus.

The systematics of Cornaceae has been remarkably unsettled and controversial, and many genera have been added to it and removed from it over time. (One researcher called it a "dustbin".) Molecular phylogenetics have clarified the relatedness of some associated genera, and at least nine genera that were previously included in Cornaceae have been eliminated from the order Cornales entirely, but the circumscription of Cornaceae is still unclear. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group usually defines Cornaceae as comprising the genera Cornus and Alangium as well as five genera now separated into the family Nyssaceae. However, many of these genera are sometimes split off into their own families (e.g. Alangiaceae), and the usage remains inconsistent.

Camptotheca (happy tree, cancer tree, or tree of life) is a genus of medium-sized deciduous trees growing to 20 metres (66 ft) tall, native to southern China and Tibet. The genus is usually included in the tupelo family Nyssaceae, but sometimes included (with the tupelos) in the dogwood family Cornaceae.

The name "happy tree" is a direct translation of the Chinese name xǐ shù (Simplified Chinese:喜树).

Davidia involucrata, the dove tree, ghost tree, handkerchief tree, pocket handkerchief tree, or is a medium-sized deciduous tree in the family Nyssaceae. It is the only living species in the genus Davidia. It was previously included with tupelos in the dogwood family, Cornaceae. Fossil species are known extending into the Upper Cretaceous.

Diplopanax is a genus of flowering trees placed in the family Cornaceae or Nyssaceae. Its two known extant species inhabit the wet tropical mountains of Vietnam and southern China. They are broad-leaved evergreen trees with woody fruits and white or yellow flowers.

Diplopanax was originally described from only one species, D. stachyanthus, and placed in the family Araliaceae, but this species was later discovered to be congeneric with Mastixicarpum, a genus of flowering plants known only from fossils and assumed extinct since the Pliocene. (This makes Mastixicarpum an example of a Lazarus genus.) One additional species (D. vietnamensis) was subsequently found and described.

Tsukada is an extinct genus of flowering plant in the family Nyssaceae related to the modern "dove-tree", Davidia involucrata, containing the single species Tsukada davidiifolia. The genus is known from fossil leaves found in the early Eocene deposits of northern Washington state, United States and a similar aged formation in British Columbia, Canada.