Xanthorrhoeaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants in the order Asparagales. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists, but the circumscription of the family has varied wildly.
As defined by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group in 2009 (the APG III system), the family consists of three subfamilies: Asphodeloideae, Hemerocallidoideae and Xanthorrhoeoideae. Earlier these three had been treated as separate families, with the Xanthorrhoeaceae sensu stricto consisting only of the genus Xanthorrhoea.
The family has a wide, but scattered distribution throughout the tropics and temperate zones. Many of the species are cultivated as ornamentals. A few are grown commercially for cut flowers. Two species of Aloe are grown for their leaf sap, which has medicinal and cosmetic uses. Xanthorrhoea is endemic to Australia.
In some of the older systems of plant taxonomy, such as the Cronquist system, the plants that now form the family Dasypogonaceae were also considered to belong to this family. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Dasypogonaceae belongs to the commelinids and is therefore not even in the same order as Xanthorrhoeaceae.
Read more about Xanthorrhoeaceae: Genera, Phylogeny, Phylogenetic Tree, Classification, Biology and Ecology, Biogeography