The Families of Flowering Plants
The Families of Flowering Plants |
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~ Scrophulariaceae
Habit and leaf form. Prostrate herbs. Leaves alternate; long petiolate; simple. Lamina dissected; pinnatifid.
Leaf anatomy. Stomata present; anomocytic.
Reproductive type, pollination. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers solitary (long pedicellate); axillary; very irregular; zygomorphic. The floral irregularity involving the perianth and involving the androecium. Flowers cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present; annular (large, cupular).
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; gamosepalous; imbricate. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; gamopetalous; imbricate; obscurely unequal but not bilabiate.
Androecium 4. Androecial members adnate (to the corolla); free of one another; 1 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens (?). Stamens 4; reduced in number relative to the adjacent perianth; oppositisepalous; alternating with the corolla members; filantherous (exserted). Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse.
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 1 (shortly bifid); apical. Placentation axile. Ovules 3–4 per locule; non-arillate; anatropous; unitegmic; tenuinucellate. Endothelium differentiated. Endosperm formation cellular.
Fruit non-fleshy; dehiscent, or indehiscent (?); a capsule, or capsular-indehiscent (globular, more or less membranous, on a spirally retracting peduncle). Seeds copiously endospermic; large (large, peltate, pelviform); minutely conspicuously hairy (mucilaginous when wetted). Embryo well differentiated (small, very excentric). Cotyledons 2. Embryo straight.
Physiology, biochemistry. Inulin not found.
Geography, cytology. Paleotropical. Sub-tropical, or tropical. India to Formosa, Philippines, New Guinea.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Tenuinucelli (?). Dahlgren’s Superorder Lamiiflorae (?); Lamiales. Cronquist’s Subclass Asteridae; Scrophulariales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Asteranae; lamiid; Order Lamiales (as a synonym of Scrophulariaceae).
Species 1. Genera 1; only genus, Ellisiophyllum.
Yamazaki 1957.
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’.