Icacinaceae

The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family of flowering plants, consisting of trees, shrubs, and lianas, primarily of the tropics.

The family was traditionally circumscribed quite broadly, with around 55 genera totalling over 400 species. In 2001, though, this circumscription was found to be polyphyletic, and the family was split into four families in three different orders: Icacinaceae sensu stricto (then unplaced at order rank), Pennantiaceae (Apiales), Stemonuraceae (Aquifoliales) and Cardiopteridaceae (also Aquifoliales). Other genera have later been moved to Metteniusaceae (Metteniusales), so that Icacinaceae now include c. 23 genera and 160 species. One genus, Sleumeria, was described as late as 2005.

Icacinaceae belongs to the order Icacinales along with Oncothecaceae. The oldest member of this family is Palaeophytocrene chicoensis from the Campanian of California, known from a fossil fruit from the Chico Formation.

Icacina senegalensis extracts have shown activity against malaria parasites.