The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants | |
~ Oxalidaceae p.p.
Habit and leaf form. Small trees, or shrubs, or lianas; non-laticiferous and without coloured juice. Self supporting, or climbing. Leaves alternate; petiolate; non-sheathing; compound; pulvinate; (impari) pinnate, or unifoliolate, or ternate. Lamina pinnately veined. Leaves exstipulate. Lamina margins entire.
Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; paracytic.
Stem anatomy. Vessel end-walls simple. Sieve-tube plastids P-type.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite (mostly), or androdioecious (Dapania); when hermaphrodite, heterostylous (heterodistylous).
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in cymes, or in racemes, or in panicles. The ultimate inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose. Inflorescences axillary or ramiflorous racemes or panicled cymes, the pedicels articulated. Flowers small; regular; 5 merous; cyclic; pentacyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk absent.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; gamosepalous (shortly connate basally), or polysepalous. Calyx lobes when gamosepalous, markedly shorter than the tube. Calyx regular; imbricate. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; polypetalous (but sometimes loosely connivent in the middle, above the claws); contorted, or with open aestivation; regular. Petals clawed.
Androecium 10. Androecial members free of the perianth; markedly unequal; coherent (shortly connate basally); 1 adelphous; 2 whorled (5+5). Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens, or including staminodes. Staminodes when present, 5; internal to the fertile stamens (the members of the inner whorl, lacking anthers). Stamens 5, or 10; isomerous with the perianth, or diplostemonous; alternisepalous; opposite the corolla members, or both alternating with and opposite the corolla members. Anthers dorsifixed; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse. Endothecium developing fibrous thickenings. Microsporogenesis simultaneous. Anther wall initially with more than one middle layer. Tapetum glandular. Pollen grains aperturate; 3 aperturate; colporate (colporoidate).
Gynoecium 5 carpelled. Carpels isomerous with the perianth. The pistil 5 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious; superior. Ovary 5 locular (somewhat 5-lobed). Gynoecium stylate. Styles 5; free; from a depression at the top of the ovary; apical. Stigmas 5; capitate (at least in Averrhoa). Placentation axile. Ovules 1–6 per locule; pendulous; superposed; non-arillate; anatropous, or hemianatropous and anatropous; bitegmic; crassinucellate. Outer integument contributing to the micropyle. Endothelium differentiated. Embryo-sac development Polygonum-type. Antipodal cells formed; 3; not proliferating; ephemeral. Synergids pear-shaped. Hypostase absent. Endosperm formation nuclear. Embryogeny asterad.
Fruit fleshy; dehiscent (Dapania), or indehiscent (mostly); in Dapania, a capsule, or a berry (usually). Capsules in Dapania, widely loculicidal. Fruit usually several seeded. Seeds endospermic. Endosperm more or less ruminate, or not ruminate (Dapania); oily (fleshy). Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo chlorophyllous (1/2); straight. Testa hard, smooth or transversly rugose.
Physiology, biochemistry. Not cyanogenic. Proanthocyanidins present; cyanidin. Flavonols absent. Ellagic acid absent (Averrhoa). Sugars transported as sucrose (in Averrhoa). Anatomy non-C4 type (Averrhoa).
Geography, cytology. Paleotropical, or Paleotropical and Neotropical (?). Tropical. Madagascar, Western Malaysia, tropical South America.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Rutiflorae; Geraniales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Geraniales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Rosanae; fabid; Order Oxalidales (as a synonym of Oxalidaceae).
Species 16. Genera 3; Averrhoa, Dapania, Sarcotheca.
Economic uses, etc. Edible fruit from A. carambola (star-fruit, five-corner).
This description is offered for casual browsing only. We strongly advise against extracting comparative information from it. This is much more easily achieved using the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, geographical distribution, genera included in each family, classifications (Dahlgren; Dahlgren, Clifford, and Yeo; Cronquist; APG), and notes on the APG classification.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards. The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 25th November 2009. http://delta-intkey.com’.