Where are Myrtales plants most commonly distributed?

Plants in the order Myrtales are most commonly distributed throughout the tropics and warmer regions of the world. The vast majority of the order's 13,000 species are trees and shrubs that thrive in tropical and subtropical climates.12

While they have few representatives in temperate regions and are almost entirely absent from cold zones, their distribution varies by family:

• Myrtaceae: Particularly abundant in Australia and tropical America.2
• Melastomataceae: Found along the entire humid tropical belt, with the highest diversity in the New World.2
• Lythraceae: Occurs primarily in warmer regions of both the Old and New Worlds, showing significant diversity in South America and Africa.2
• Onagraceae: Unlike many other families in the order, this group is chiefly found in the temperate zones of the Americas.2
• Combretaceae: Primarily located along tropical seacoasts, in African savannas, and in Asiatic monsoon forests.2

Other families, such as Penaeaceae, are restricted to Africa, while Crypteroniaceae is found entirely in Southeast Asia.2