The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants | |
~ Tecophilaeaceae
Habit and leaf form. Herbs. Perennial; with a basal aggregation of leaves (the leaves few, the lowest bractlike, the upper one or more laminate); cormous (the corms thick, constricted at intevals). Leaves alternate; when laminate, petiolate, or sessile; sheathing; simple. Lamina entire; lanceolate, or ovate; pinnately veined, or palmately veined, or parallel-veined; cross-venulate; cordate, or cuneate at the base. Lamina margins entire.
General anatomy. Accumulated starch other than exclusively ‘pteridophyte type’.
Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; paracytic.
Lamina with secretory cavities. Secretory cavities containing oil; Secretory cavities schizogenous. The mesophyll containing calcium oxalate crystals, or without calcium oxalate crystals. The mesophyll crystals if present, raphides. Minor leaf veins without phloem transfer cells. Vessels absent.
Stem anatomy. Secondary thickening absent. Xylem without vessels.
Root anatomy. Root xylem with vessels (perforation plates scalariform).
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite. Floral nectaries present, or absent (? — no septal nectaries, according to Rudall and Cutler (1995), this conflicting with previous claims).
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in racemes, or in panicles. Inflorescences scapiflorous; terminal; panicles, thyrses or racemes; spatheate, or espatheate (the scape subtended basally by a spathelike or bractlike cataphyll). Flowers medium-sized; regular; 3 merous; cyclic; pentacyclic. Perigone tube present. Hypogynous disk absent.
Perianth of ‘tepals’; 6; joined; 2 whorled; isomerous; petaloid; similar in the two whorls; blue.
Androecium 6. Androecial members adnate (inserted at the mouth of the perianth tube); free of one another; 2 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 6; filantherous (the filaments short, often S-shaped). Anthers basifixed; non-versatile; dehiscing via pores, or dehiscing via short slits (apically, the thecae with a common opening). Microsporogenesis simultaneous. Tapetum glandular. Pollen grains aperturate; 1 aperturate; sulcate (or trichotomosulcate).
Gynoecium 3 carpelled. The pistil 6 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious, or eu-syncarpous (?); partly inferior. Ovary 3 locular (deeply lobed, the locules separated cf. Boraginaceae). Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; from a depression at the top of the ovary; more or less ‘gynobasic’. Stylar canal present. Stigmas 1, or 3 (short). Placentation basal. Ovules 2 per locule (one per locellus); funicled; ascending; with a funicular obturator; anatropous; bitegmic; crassinucellate, or pseudocrassinucellate (?). Embryo-sac development probably Polygonum-type. Endosperm formation nuclear, or helobial (?).
Fruit non-fleshy (membranous); a schizocarp. Mericarps 3; capsular. Fruit usually 1 seeded. Seeds non-endospermic (but with a well developed, starchy chalazosperm). Seeds with starch. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 1. Testa without phytomelan.
Physiology, biochemistry. Not cyanogenic. Proanthocyanidins absent. Flavonols absent. Ellagic acid absent.
Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Tropical. Tropical Africa. X = 11, 12.
Taxonomy. Subclass Monocotyledonae. Superorder Liliiflorae; Asparagales. APG (1998) Monocot; non-commelinoid; Asparagales (as a synonym of Tecophilaeaceae). Species 6. Genera 1; only genus, Cyanastrum.
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: 10th April 2008. http://delta-intkey.com’.