The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants |
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~ Solanaceae
Habit and leaf form. Large trees; non-laticiferous and without coloured juice. Leaves alternate; not gland-dotted; simple. Lamina entire. Leaves exstipulate. Lamina margins entire.
Stem anatomy. Secretory cavities present. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring, or anomalous. Xylem with fibre tracheids. Vessel end-walls slightly oblique; simple.
Reproductive type, pollination. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’; in cymes. The ultimate inflorescence unit cymose. Inflorescences terminal; few-flowered, terminal or subterminal cymes. Flowers regular; 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Hypogynous disk present; intrastaminal.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; gamosepalous; terminally toothed. Calyx lobes markedly shorter than the tube. Calyx tubular; regular; persistent. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; gamopetalous; lobes imbricate; funnel-shaped (with a long tube, the lobes short); regular.
Androecium 5. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla); free of one another; 1 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; alternating with the corolla members; filantherous (exserted). Anthers dorsifixed to basifixed (medifixed, basally bilobed); oblong, dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse.
Gynoecium 2 carpelled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious to eu-syncarpous; superior (more or less immersed in the disk). Ovary 2 locular (but only one locule fertile). Gynoecium stylate. Styles 1; apical. Stigmas 1–2; 2 lobed. Ovules 1 per locule; anatropous (?).
Fruit fleshy; indehiscent; a drupe (large, shining, red, the mesocarp fibrous, the bony endocarp bilocular, the fertile locule U-shaped, the sterile locule straight). The drupes with one stone. Fruit 1 seeded. Seeds scantily endospermic. Endosperm oily. Seeds U-shaped. Embryo curved (U-shaped).
Physiology, biochemistry. Inulin not found.
Geography, cytology. Neotropical. Tropical. Brazil.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Tenuinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Gentianiflorae; Gentianales (cf. Apocynaceae). Cronquist’s Subclass Asteridae; Solanales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Asteranae; lamiid; Order Solanales (as a synonym of Solanaceae).
Species 1. Genera 1; only genus, Duckeodendron.
Record (1933). Trop. Woods 33, 6–10 (for wood structure — not yet seen).
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’.