Chloranthaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. Such a family has been recognised by many taxonomists, at least after the plants were discovered, which was relatively recently.
The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, of 1998), does recognise such a family and leaves it unplaced as to order. It is not placed at all beyond being accepted among the most basic lineages in the clade angiosperms. The family consists of a few genera, totalling several dozen species, of woody plants in the tropics (not in Africa and Australia).
Members of this family have opposite leaves and interpetiolar stipules (similar to the stipules found in family Rubiaceae). The flowers are inconspicuous, and arranged in inflorescences. Petals are absent in this family, and sometimes so are sepals. The flowers can be either hermaphrodite or of separate sexes. The fruit is drupe-like, consisting of one carpel.
UCSB center helps land $24M national center to study environmental impacts of nanotechnology Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 (University of California - Santa Barbara) The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the University of California at Santa Barbara helped to win the new University of California Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology, a five-year, $24 million center co-funded by the National Science Foundation and the US Environmental Protection Agency to study the environmental impacts of nanotechnology. Fat-regenerating 'stem cells' found in mice Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 (Cell Press) Researchers have identified stem cells with the capacity to build fat. Although they have yet to show that the cells can renew themselves, transplants of the progenitor cells isolated from the fat tissue of normal mice can restore normal fat tissue in animals that are otherwise lacking it.The findings may yield insight into the causes of obesity, a condition characterized by an increase in both the size and number of fat cells. Landmark study unlocks stem cell, DNA secrets to speed therapies Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400 (Florida State University) In a groundbreaking study led by an eminent molecular biologist at Florida State University, researchers have discovered that as embryonic stem cells turn into different cell types, there are dramatic corresponding changes to the order in which DNA is replicated and reorganized.