Aizoaceae has been mostly unknown in homeopathy. Only Mesembryanthemum cristallinum has been mentioned in older literature. In the fist version of the
Plant theory Aizoaceae was placed in
Aizoales together with families like
Nyctaginaceae and
Phytolaccaceae. This was based on the DNA studies in botany who grouped those families together. Only
Phytolacca americana was known in homeopathy.
Practice in homeopathy with
Aizoaceae did not produce very good results. This indicated that a revision was needed. This became also possible because some incidental results were present, more species were available in homeopathic potencies and provings had been done.
The first characteristic is that
Aizoaceae are quite different from the other families in
Aizoales.
Aizoaceae are succulents, very soft, with thick leaves. The softness of the inside leaves shows a quality of
Phase 2. And this is lacking in the other families. The second fact is that
Aizoaceae has many genera, about 135 and 1800 species. The other families in
Aizoales have about 50 genera. This resulted in the idea of treating
Aizoaceae separately.
What was also curious that a case of Sceletium had aspects of
Phase 7. This in contrast with the placement of Aizoacae in
Phase 2 and
Subphase 3.
This lead to the idea of raising
Aizoaceae to the level of Order in
Phase 2 and raising the subfamilies to the level of family and placing them in the several
Subphases. This fitted also better with the results of several provings. Treating
Aizoaceae as an oder does not affect the monophyly of it, it stays monophyletic.
The first split of
Aizoaceae is Aizooideae. Aizooideae are relatively normal plants compared to the other Aoziaceae. This fits with
Phase 1. The split of subfamily of
Sesuvioideae is combined with Aizooideae.
The next split off is
Mesembryanthemoideae, which is a clearly defined subfamily. This is so much so that there has been a tendency to fuse all genera of
Mesembryanthemoideae into the genus Mesembryanthemum. This strategy is not copied in the plant theory, as the members of
Mesembryanthemoideae have shown aspect of different
Stages.
Mesembryanthemoideae has been confirmed as
Subphase 7.
Then the problem becomes more difficult. In phylogenetic studies all other
Aizoaceae are placed in the subfamily
Ruschioideae. It is the majority by far. And the subdivision is less clear. The tribe Dorotheantheae is close to Apatesieae and both have been confirmed as having qualities of
Subphase 2. There they are placed as
Dorotheanthoideae.
Delospermoideae is a next split off and has been confirmed as
Subphase 6, with quite a few very good cases.
Bergeranthoideae has been confirmed as
Subphase 3, as has been confirmed by a case of Carruanthes ringens.
The hardest problem is to split the rest of
Ruschioideae into two subfamilies. It has been done in
Lithopsoideae in
Subphase 4 and a restricted
Ruschioideae in
Subphase 5. But the delimitation of the two is quite unsure yet as the DNA analysis do not give clear results. The botanical studies are inconclusive till now.
ConclusionThe allocation of families and subfamilies of
Aizoales has been difficult in the past, giving poor results. The update has been much more accurate and predictive, giving good cases regularly. Some parts need still further study though. And the allocation of genera to
Stages needs further research.
A consequence of classification is that the former families of
Aizoales cannot be maintained in
Phase 2. They have been transferred to
Phase 3. Further study has shown that that fits better with old cases and new prescriptions.
The fortunate aspect is that this transfer gives more fulness to
Phase 3,
Physenales. In the first version of the
Plant theory Phase 3 contained
Physenales, but the families in it are very small, lacking the capability to cover all aspect of the Subphase and
Stages of
Phase 3. Incorporating
Nyctaginaceae, Phytolaccaeae and Molluginacaeae has made the plant theory more accurate.
Aizoales Subphases1.
Sesuvioideae2.
Drosanthemoideae3.
Bergeranthoideae4.
Lithopsoideae5. Russchioideae
6.
Delospermoideae7.
Mesembryanthemoideae