What is Gnetum?
{{italic title}} {{automatic taxobox | image = Gnetum macrostachyum in Thailand.jpg | image_caption = ''[[Gnetum macrostachyum]]'' in Thailand | grandparent_authority = T.M.Fries | parent_authority = [[John Lindley|Lindley]]x | taxon = Gnetum | authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]] | synonyms_ref = <ref>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=334088 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> |synonyms = *''Gnemon'' <small>Rumph. ex Kuntze</small> *''Thoa'' <small>Aubl.</small> *''Abutua'' <small>Lour.</small> *''Arthostema'' <small>Neck.</small> | range_map = Gnetum distribution.PNG | range_map_alt = Map showing the range of ''Gnetum'' | range_map_caption = Distribution }} '''''Gnetum''''' is the only [[genus]] in the plant family '''Gnetaceae'''. They are [[gymnosperms]]: their seeds are naked, whereas the seeds of flowering plants are covered.<ref name=Gymnosperm>{{cite web|url=http://www.conifers.org/gn/Gnetaceae.php|title=Gnetaceae and Gnetum (gnetophytes) description|work=The Gymnosperm Database|date=23 November 2012|access-date=11 July 2017}}</ref> Plants in ''Gnetum'' are [[evergreen]]. Most of them are woody vines, but some are big enough to be trees. They grow in warmer, tropical regions of the world.<ref name=Gymnosperm/> There are over 50 species living. Although some are endangered, the group as a whole are not threatened. Some species are in danger of dying out because they only live in small areas, and the forest where they grow is being turned into land for farming.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/194928/0|title=''Gnetum oxycarpum''|publisher=The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species|access-date=11 July 2017}}</ref> ''Gnetum'' may have been one of the first plants to be [[pollination|pollinated]] by insects, with other members of this group such as ''[[Ephedra]]'' and ''[[Welwitschia]]''.<ref name=Gymnosperm/> Gnetophyte fossils have been found that date from the [[Permian]]<ref>{{cite j