The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants | |
~ Hugoniaceae, Linaceae
Habit and leaf form. Trees (with stellate indumentum). Leaves opposite; leathery; petiolate; simple. Lamina entire; pinnately veined (arcuate-anastomosing); cross-venulate. Leaves stipulate. Stipules interpetiolar (large); concrescent; very caducous. Lamina margins entire.
Leaf anatomy. Hairs present. Complex hairs present; stellate (present also on the stipules, sepals and petals).
Lamina dorsiventral.
Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring. Vessel end-walls scalariform.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in cymes. Inflorescences terminal and axillary; cymes or cymelike racemes. Flowers pentacyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present; extrastaminal; annular (the stamens adnate to its inner side).
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; gamosepalous (very shortly connate). Calyx lobes markedly longer than the tube. Calyx persistent. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; polypetalous (the petals linear-oblong); imbricate; fleshy; deciduous. Petals spoon-shaped at the base.
Androecium 10. Androecial members free of the perianth; markedly unequal; free of one another; 2 whorled. Stamens 10; diplostemonous; both alternating with and opposite the corolla members. Anthers introrse (ovoid); apiculate. Pollen grains aperturate; 7–9 aperturate; colpate, or colporate (col(por)oidate).
Gynoecium 2 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious to synstylovarious; superior. Ovary 2 locular. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 2; free, or partially joined; apical. Stigmas 2; capitate. Placentation apical. Ovules 2 per locule; long funicled; pendulous; arillate.
Fruit non-fleshy; indehiscent; a nut; 1 seeded. Seeds with fibrous arils.
Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Tropical. Tropical Africa, Western Malaysia.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Rutiflorae; Geraniales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Linales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Rosanae; fabid; Order Malpighiales.
Species 3. Genera 1; only genus, Ctenolophon.
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’.